CHAMBER OF DIVING & WATERSPORTS


[b]Dive centres protest against Nuweiba power plant [/b] Dive centres in the South Sinai are appealing to all CDWS members and the public to voice their protest against plans to build a 105,000 square-metre power plant in the centre of one of Egypt�s most scenic diving destinations. The Egyptian Electricity Holding Company has put forward a proposal to build a power plant in the centre of Nuweiba in the South Sinai region. This would see construction of 750Mw gas-powered turbines, towering more than 80m in height in a central area of Nuweiba close to popular dive sites and a marine park. Local divers and business say the power plant would have a devastating impact on the environment, both underwater and on land. If given the go-ahead, they fear tourism in Nuweiba would be destroyed and that there would be long-term disastrous implications for the local community. In protest, Nuweiba-based dive centres started an online petition calling for the plans to be scrapped. Local dive centre African Divers said in a statement: �Nuweiba is one of the most picturesque parts of the whole southern Sinai peninsula, has an excellent and unique tourism potential, is home to two major Sinai Bedouin tribes, and has an almost unique, relatively undisturbed underwater marine life. �Apart from the obvious enormous detrimental effects such a project will have on the local environment and population during the construction period, once operational, the plant will have a negative impact on the quality of air, will reduce the level of sunlight, increase noise pollution and, above all, will damage seriously and irreparably the marine life and coral reefs that lie all along the east coast of Nuweiba adjacent to where the plant is planned to be built.� The petition calls for the Egyptian Environment Affairs Agency to withhold approval for the project, pending full investigations by internationally recognised environment agencies and consultations with local residents, businesses and non-government organisations. To sign the petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/stop-the-destruction-of-nuweiba-and-its-coral-reefs [center]