Damietta locals to continue protest : demand shutdown of MOPCO petrochem plant

16-Nov-11

After a six-day strike across the governorate, Damietta locals vow to continue their sit-in against MOPCO petrochemicals company despite a decree by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to shut down the plant, as per the dailynewsegypt.com. In Damietta, roads across the city are still blocked with burnt tires and broken palm trees, keeping workers from going in and out of the main port in the city. Damietta’s port, which is also a main port in Egypt has been losing around US$2 million every day, with 440 hauls not allowed to pass or enter since the strike began. Protesters are demanding that governorate officials finally heed their calls to shut down the factory, which they say is “deadly and hazardous” to residents, marine life, as well as agricultural. Residents complain that the factory, which produces fertilizers and petrochemical products, does not use proper filters when disposing its waste which has had disastrous and deadly results in their governorate. The local committee had found the company dumping waste into the Nile as well as the Mediterranean causing the destruction of adjacent fruit gardens and cultivated farmland as well as the death of fish.