CAIRO - 20 December 2022: Egypt's Water Resources and Irrigation Law comes within the framework of the trend towards adopting comprehensive development programs through improving water management, raising the efficiency of its uses and searching for non-traditional sources of water that support the axes of the water balance.
It is also an important step towards achieving water security and paying attention to preserving and protecting huge assets related to water resources.
The law was keen to support the future vision for managing water resources in a more efficient manner, by regulating water uses and ensuring their fair distribution.
And the law defined the prohibition line for sea beaches as the area in which it is prohibited to establish any facility on the sea beaches in light of what the Ministry determines the final prohibition line inside the land along the Egyptian sea coasts.
The law included controls related to the management and protection of sea beaches by stipulating that a higher committee should be formed to consider applications submitted for obtaining new licenses for works or occupancy within the exclusion zone for sea beaches from representatives of the relevant authorities of at least high-rank occupants.
A decision is issued by the Prime Minister to form the committee, its work system, and defining its terms of reference.
The committee submits its recommendations to the minister for approval, and the minister's approval of the committee's work is binding on other administrative bodies, and any committees formed in the governorates and others in this regard are canceled. The executive regulations regulate the procedures and conditions that must be followed.
And according to the text of Article 87, it is prohibited to establish any establishments or works on the marine beaches of the state for a distance of two hundred meters from the shore line to the mainland except after the Ministry’s approval, provided that it coordinates with the Ministry of Environment to determine the final prohibition line based on studies in this regard, which is prohibited to be crossed by establishing Any establishments or businesses, and Article (87) of this law continues to be valid in areas for which the prohibition line has not been determined by the Ministry and the Ministry of Environment, and all concerned authorities are notified to comply with it.
Without prejudice to the provisions of the Environment Law promulgated by Law No. 4 of 1994, if it appears to the competent engineer that there are works in violation of the previous articles of this law on the marine beaches of the state, he has the right to take the necessary legal measures to stop the work and immediate removal administratively and return the object to its original state at the expense of the violator and collect the value of costs of the Administrative removal.
The law also affirmed in the text of Article (90) that it is not permissible to establish facilities of a special character or facilities for public benefit within the prohibition zone referred to in Articles (87 and 88) of this law except in cases of necessity that require that and on condition that the approval of the Ministry of Environment is obtained in advance.
After the approval of the Supreme Committee by the Minister, provided that the approval includes specifying the necessary protection works for it based on specialized studies in this regard from an advisory body approved by the Ministry, without prejudice to the provisions of the Environment Law promulgated by Law No. 4 of 1994.
Protection works are carried out under the supervision of the Ministry, provided that the person concerned bears the costs of studies, supervision and implementation of these works. The executive regulations manage the procedures and conditions that must be followed in this regard.
It is also prohibited to perform any work that affects the nature of the beach or modifies its course by entering or receding from the sea water.
The legislation emphasized that none of the following works may be carried out without a license from the Ministry based on a recommendation from the Higher Committee for Beaches:
- Transferring any sand from the sand dunes and others located in the exclusion zone of the marine beaches, and the licensee is obligated to replace the exploited quantities with other quantities similar in size.
- Changing the topography of the land by digging or filling within the exclusion zone for the sea beaches.
- The executive regulations specify the necessary conditions and controls in this regard, and whoever violates the articles regulating the protection of beaches shall be punished, according to the text of the law, with imprisonment for a period of no less than six months and a fine of no less than 100,000 pounds and no more than 500,000 pounds, or one of these two penalties, and the penalty is doubled in the event of repetition.
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