Natural reserves are not public bathrooms’’ says MP as riposte to Environment Minister’s statements

CAIRO - 27 April 2017: A proposal by Egypt’s Minister of Environment to allow development on part of the country’s nature reserves has drawn fire from parliamentarian Farag Amer.

Amer, chairman of the Parliament’s Youth and Sports Committee, lashed out at Minister of Environment Khaled Fahmy over statements regarding the ministry’s plan to allocate parts of Egypt’s nature reserves for investment.

Fahmy announced the ministry’s plan to develop Egypt’s nature reserves in press remarks last Saturday. The plan includes selling parts of the reserves to investment companies and building resorts and public restrooms along their borders.

The bathrooms will “benefit the nature reserves” since the human waste would serve as “organic product,” Shoukry said.

Amer, however, said Egypt’s nature reserves should be considered an inviolable property and claimed Fahmy has neglected the development of the reserves since he took office in 2012.

“Nature reserves are not public bathrooms,” he said.