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In West Tahta no life for farmers…..intentional neglect from the authorities cause further impoverishment of farmers!!
Thousands of farmers in the zone of the West Tahta irrigation project suffer from several problems, most importantly form shortage in water at the extremities of water canals number 60, 70 and 80. They are forced to use polluted underground water (due to infiltration of sewage) which leads to poor productivity and threatens lands of becoming unsuitable for agriculture. They also suffer from violation by the ministry of agriculture to their rights to safe possession of their land estimated at 5000 feddans, where the government had given a number of them primary contracts through the General Authority for Reconstruction and Development and given them the lands, while later it had refused to hand the contracts for the rest without any legal right, and didn’t even bother to answer their complaints. The farmers are threatened by large landowners and Bashers who want to seize their lands making use of the fact that they lack of documents that indicate their ownership of the land. The Centre denounces this act that leads to the distinction between these farmers and others who have received titles of ownership.
In addition, farmers in the same area who have reformed around 7000 feddans outside the project zone suffer the refusal of the General Authority for Reconstruction and Development to legally enable them to legally own their lands, and the competent authorities refuse to allow them to install water pumps to irrigate their lands, and refuse to allow them access to electricity claiming their presence to be illegal on the lands that they have reformed tens of years ago!!
Framers fear that the authorities will take over their lands to sell it to big investors, or landlords in the governorate, a thing that seriously threatens peace and social security in this area. The LCHR finds this highly unfair and moreover illegal and unconstitutional to take the lands from those farmers after they have worked for years and years to reform it.
The LCHR affirms that the absent role of the state in those remote areas in Upper Egypt leads to more negative results, violence and threatens the social peace, where hundreds of farmers and their families live in the mountain exposed to poisonous insects and Bashers threats, and suffering form lack of services of all sorts, completely neglected and having only space for violence and crime.
The LCHR transmits their complaints to the authorities in the West Tahta project in the ministry of agriculture asking it to give them title deeds like the ones who have received their contracts, in accordance with the laws and decisions, especially law number 59 and the issued ministerial decrees concerning this matter.
The LCHR presents also the farmers complaints for those who have their lands outside the project zone, and who reformed their lands tens of years ago, asking the authorities to protect their rights in safe procession of their lands, and safe agriculture, to allow them to install water pumps, and supply them with electricity, support them with subsidized materials needed for agriculture similar to the ones inside the project zone.
The center demands the governor of Souhage, and the local authorities to urgently supply the inhabitants in this area with minimum basic services, especially the villages close to the mountain, and to insure a clean potable water supply, safe transports, paved main routes to facilitate transport of agricultural production, construct schools and a hospital, develop the health care units to be able to provide basic health care services and support the civil society organizations to be able to improve the farmers conditions, reduce poverty and sickness in this area.
The Center demands the civil society, members of the people’s assembly, people’s council and local councils to join the farmers in West Tahta in their demands to legally own their lands and to help them protect their rights to safe procession of lands, safe agriculture and a decent life.
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For more information please contact the Center.