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LCHR demands the Minister of Agriculture to respect and implement the court decisions to guarantee the rights of small fishermen and stop wasting natural resources in Edko
In a positive development, the Administrative Judiciary Court in Alexandria has issued a decision for the favor of the LCHR in its lawsuit no. 3298/53 judiciary filed against the Minister of Agriculture and the Prime Minister on behalf of some fishermen from Edko to stop establishing any more fish farms and remove the existing one that were established in violation to the law, in order to protect natural resources and guarantee the rights of small fishermen. As the established fish farms in Edko Lake prevented fishermen from fishing there, they were established in unauthorized areas, which violated article no. 48 of the fishery wealth law no. 124 for the year 1983.
LCHR asserts that the court decision is supported by a repot about the financial violations by the public corporation for fishery wealth issued by the local council in Edko city stating that the corporation's policies have led to the following:
· Wasting a big water area of Edko lake "4000 feddans from the south and 4500 feddans from the north" because of the establishment of unlicensed fish farms in addition to many previous violations, which have led to decreasing the lake's area from 47 thousand feddans to 5 thousand feddans, which violates article no. 48 of the fishery wealth law no. 124 for the year 1983.
· The owners of all licensed fish farms have possession of water areas multiple times the areas stated in their contracts with the corporation, which violates article no. 38 of the executive panel for the fishing law, natural resources and organizing fish farms.
· Complements, patronage and favoritism to businessmen have led to so many violations in the area.
· In the lake, some people practice violating crafts, like Shabat, Hoz and Tababa under the supervision of the lake officials. These crafts violate article no. 16 of law no. 124 for the year 1983.
· The negligence of the corporation's officials regarding the contract renewal for El Khobbeza fish farm and not taking the necessary legal procedures, made the corporation loose a large amount of money that it could have gained.
· The negligence of the corporation's officials for not cleaning about 7 thousand feddans of the lake has led to increasing the soil level, which is a violation to article no. 18 of law no. 124 for the year 1983.
· A lot of the lake's area was dried up and covered with dirt to be turned into agrarian areas under the supervision of the corporation's officials, which violates article no. 20 of law no. 124 for the year 1983.
· The corporation's machinery and tools are only used in private farms and they are not used to clean the lake, which have led to the spread of weeds, Nile flowers, dregs, sediment and alluvial deposit. The corporation also allows factories to drop their wastes and chemicals in the lake, which violates article no. 15 of law no. 124 for the year 1983.
· The concealment of the corporation's officials on those who gather the small fish in the lake put there for breeding purposes, will lead to eliminating the fishery wealth in the lake, which is a violation to article no. 19 of law no. 124 for the year 1983.
· In violation to the law, the corporation has established a fish farm in Kom Belaj on an area of 850 feddans using the corporation's machinery and tools. The work took 8 years to be accomplished; its costs reached 4 million pounds with a yearly bank interest of one million pounds. But neither the corporation nor the people benefited of this project and the fishermen were deprived to fish in that area.
All these violations and much more have led to the deterioration of the lake's condition and wasting public money.
The LCHR was surprised that Behira Governor and the Minister of Agriculture who is at the same time the head of the Fishery Wealth Corporation have refused to implement the court decisions. LCHR wonders, who can stop the violations of the executive authority on the work of the legislative and judicial authorities?
LCHR is preparing to file a direct lawsuit against them for refusing to implement the court decisions.
The LCHR demands the Prime Minister and the Minister of Agriculture to make the necessary procedures to implement the court decisions to guarantee the protection of our natural resources and improve fishermen's economic and social conditions.
For more information, please contact the Center.