Ninety-nine percent of Egypt’s poorest villages lack sanitary drainage, according to a report released Monday by the cabinet’s Information and Decision Support Center.
The report said sewage water is a main source of pollution, containing biological and chemical pollutants.
A gap exists between Egyptian cities and villages in terms of subsurface drainage, the report said, and only 44 percent of citizens nationwide have access to sanitary drainage.
Fifty-nine percent of Egyptian youths believe unclean streets and the omnipresence of garbage are the primary reasons for pollution. Also, 42 percent blame air pollution and 28.5 percent blame sewage water, according to the report.
The report also said 40 percent of youths believe noise pollution is the main problem in urban areas, and consider pesticides the chief source of pollution in the Delta governorates. Water contamination came first in Upper Egyptian and border governorates.
For vehicles, the report said 28 percent of cars tested on motorways do not conform to safety standards stipulated in Environment Law 4/1994. It noted that carbon dioxide emissions from 2009 to 2010 stood at 177 million tons.
The amount of sewage water discharged into the Nile by industrial facilities subject to environmental authorities’ control reached 4.3 billion square meters in that same period. Domestic solid waste stood at 21 million tons, a daily rate of 58,000 tons, the report said.
Egypt ranks 68th out of 163 countries listed by the Environmental Performance Index, with a score of 62 percent in 2010. The index ranked Egypt worst among Arab countries in terms of the biological contamination of its water.
