Egypt's government dismissed claims that it spends billions of pounds on setting up barriers for protection against torrential rains in El Arish valley without benefiting from the rainwater.
According to a statement released by Cabinet Media Center on Tuesday, the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation which denies such groundless reports, noting that any financial allocations are directed to best optimize the rainwater along El Arish valley, which is the biggest of its kind in northern Sinai.
The ministry also pointed out that this area has previously been hit by flash floods in 2010, adding that all encroachment on the valley's course have been removed and bridges have been established to protect vital facilities and infrastructure.
The statement revealed that El Rawafaa Dam lake was cleaned up in 2012 and its storage capacity was upped by 50 percent in order to maximize harvesting fresh water from such flash floods, noting that the dam efficiency has been elevated as part of the plan of the current fiscal year.
The statement further mentioned that many protection works have been carried out over the past phase to protect the vital areas from risks of torrential rains as some 1,500 facilities were established to protect towns, villages, tourism facilities as well as gas, electricity and water pipelines.
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