CAIRO (Middle East Eye) – The machines of Egypt’s largest coke factory, one of the biggest causes of pollution in Cairo, have stopped whirring and its doors firmly shut.
The closure of the El Nasr Coke Factory earlier this week comes as Egypt prepares to host world leaders, United Nations officials and hundreds of environmentalists, business executives and climate activists at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm el-Sheikh in November.
However, the shutting of the factory, the latest in a series of closures of state-owned factories, has stirred up a wave of anger, with critics arguing the government, which owns the factory, is closing key businesses needed by the economy.
The government has also been accused of undermining the nationally owned businesses for the benefit of the private sector.
Commenting on the factory’s closure, MP and TV host Mustapha Bakri spoke of “blatant corruption” and a “conspiracy” against national industries, calling on President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to intervene to protect the factory.
Workers at the factory, now without employment, also fear for their futures.
Ibrahim Adel, a member of the workers’ union of the factory, told Middle East Eye: “All the workers and I feel so sad and angry at this closure.
“There could have been solutions to the problems of the factory other than closure, including relocating it to the desert.”
The El Nasr Coke Factory was established in 1960, together with dozens of others, by the late revolutionary leader President Gamal Abdel Nasser, who wanted to turn Egypt into a major industrial and agricultural force.
The factory used to produce 1.6mn tons of coke annually, some of which was used in the local market, with the remainder exported to other countries, including some in Europe.