EIPR sees this judgment as justice for the complainants and a recognition of their rights to health and environmental safety. The judgment is particularly important because current environmental laws and regulations allow heavy polluting industries such as cement and coal-powered plants to operate in residential areas.
Files: Environmental Justice
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) called on the Egyptian government to disclose the details of the agreements of the Dabaa nuclear plant. EIPR also demanded the government to abide by the constitution and present the agreement and the related loan agreement to the parliament and obtain its approval before the implementation and not proceed with the project under these conditions.
Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR ) declared its objection to the recently issued nuclear energy laws and said that these laws contradict a number of legal and constitutional principles, undermine the independence of the Egyptian Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority (ENRRA) and nuclear safety guarantees, as well as wasting state resources. EIPR demanded that these laws be reviewed and that nuclear power plant contracts not be signed for the time being.
For many years, the residents practiced many forms of peaceful protests against the factory. They wrote petitions, filed complaints, held negotiations with factory officials, talked about their cause in the media, used social media, produced documentary films, and even conducted researches and proposed alternatives.
Residents of Wadi al-Qamar have recently posted a video, dated 18 May 2017, on Facebook, which depicts very large emissions coming out of a chimney of the Alexandria Portland Cement’s plant (APCC), which is adjacent to their homes. APCC is a subsidiary of TITAN Cement Group, a multinational cement and building materials producing company, based in Greece. Residents of the area have been complaining for years about the environmental pollution caused by the plant and the harmful effects it has had on their health and the health of their children.
The undersigned organizations urge Egypt to accede to the agreement and join the global climate movement. Not only is this a common responsibility of all states in order to confront climate change; it is also of direct interest to Egypt.
On May 11, 2016, the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), an independent mechanism of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), subordinate to the World Bank, referred a complaint against the Alexandria Portland Cement (Titan) to compliance officials.
Community members of Wadi el-Qamar in Alexandria filed a lawsuit against Alexandria Portland Cement Factory (Titan) because the factory operating in the heart of a large residential area uses coal for fuel.
The Implementing Regulations of the law on Environment has been recently amended by the Prime Minister's Decree no. 964/ 2015, which was published in the official gazette on 19 April 2015.
The undersigned organizations declare their solidarity with residents and workers harmed by the Alexandria Portland Cement factory (Titan Cement) in the Wadi al-Qamar area of Alexandria,
