Today, Saturday, Dr. Hany Swelim, Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, witnessed the holding of the “second workshop for evaluating performance for the summer season 2023 and planning for the winter season 2023 and summer 2024,” which was held at the Engineers Syndicate building in Dakahlia Governorate, in the presence of a number of ministry leaders and irrigation engineers in Dakahlia Governorate.
Swailem stressed that the workshops that are held in the governorates aim to evaluate performance and communicate directly with those in charge of managing the water system in each governorate separately, and to identify the challenges facing this system in each governorate, and the measures taken by irrigation and drainage devices and mechanics during the current summer season to deal with With these challenges, and also identifying the obstacles facing the work system, evaluating the ending season and relying on lessons learned in development to develop long-term solutions before the next summer season of 2024.
He added that this workshop is the second in this regard, as the first workshop was previously held in Buhaira Governorate, and this was followed by the preparation of a timetable with specific procedures to deal with all obstacles and challenges in Buhaira Governorate and follow-up on the implementation of these procedures by the relevant ministry leaders, indicating that a series will be held From similar workshops in all governorates to communicate with those in charge of managing the water system in each governorate and identify obstacles and ways to resolve them, directed to prepare an action plan with a timetable that includes specific procedures to deal with all obstacles and challenges in Dakahlia Governorate similar to what was done in Buhaira Governorate, provided that this plan is prepared Presentation to the Minister within a week of its date.
He explained that the most important measures to prepare for the next season are to carry out the necessary maintenance for all gates, water facilities, and control facilities at the ends of the canals in the various departments to tighten control over water and raise the efficiency of water distribution, and to implement the purification plan before entering the summer season.
He stressed the importance of managing the water system in an integrated manner and sound mechanisms that ensure the delivery of water to the beneficiaries, with the setting of specific quotas for each irrigation department that are determined according to the actual needs and the actual control of each department with full commitment to these quotas, and constant communication with farmers to ensure that water reaches all farmers during the period of employment and to ensure that Resolve all problems as quickly as possible.
Dr. Swailem stressed his keenness to communicate with all employees of the Ministry to review their requests and proposals, while working to improve the control tools to follow up on all the Ministry’s projects, and to confirm that efficiency is the main criterion for promotions, and that the evaluation of departments will depend on a transparent scientific method, as transparency in work is one of the most important means of development. And raising the efficiency of performance and achieving the public interest and speedy completion of work, and that recognizing problems and working on development and a quick solution based on sound scientific bases are the most important principles of managing the water system, indicating that performance evaluation and the distribution of rewards and promotions will depend on specific criteria, the most important of which are achievement, teamwork, good water management and dealing with Farmers’ complaints and removal of encroachments.
He also referred to the Ministry’s efforts to improve the financial situation of the Ministry’s employees by working to inventory the Ministry’s properties and working to increase investment in these properties to increase their financial return, as a cooperation protocol has already been signed with the Gharbia and Menoufia governorates to exploit some sites without affecting the network of canals, banks and stations while providing a return. Funds for the Ministry, and other protocols are being prepared for the exploitation of the Ministry’s properties in a number of governorates, and the articles of the law related to the fund for returning the thing to its origin are being activated in accordance with the articles of the new Water Resources and Irrigation Law.
In the context of the discussions that took place during the workshop, Dr. Sweilem directed a study of the work of trolleys with graduated protection zones in the canals and drains in front of the lift stations of the Department of Mechanics and Electricity, with the National Water Research Center studying the optimal depths of the protection zones and the optimal use of lawn machines in these ranges.
He also stressed the importance of transformational training in filling the labor shortage in the various departments, reviewing the distribution of engineers and administrators on irrigation engineering to reduce the engineering deficit, and working to raise the capabilities of the ministry’s employees by providing the necessary training in various disciplines after identifying the real needs for training, and preparing training programs that benefit from the accumulated experience. By using the expertise referred to the pension to provide its expertise to young engineers and technicians in the ministry, in addition to working on reviewing the position of administrative housing in the ministry.
During the workshop, Eng. Mohamed Abdel Raouf, Head of the Central Administration of Water Resources and Irrigation in Dakahlia Governorate, reviewed the water situation in the governorate, the condition of canals and bridges, the purification and rehabilitation works of canals, the status of canal gates and impoundment barrages, the position of human resources and the deficit in the numbers of engineers and technicians, and other challenges that impede the work system. And it negatively affects the water system in the governorate, and the measures taken by the administration in this regard to ensure the provision of irrigation water to all farmers despite the high heat waves that the country has witnessed recently, and proposals to improve the water management process in the governorate by checking the reins and crop structure data on each canal.
For its part, the “working group formed to identify the problems of the governorates and propose solutions to them” presented the status of the purification of canals and private mesqas and the status of some water facilities in the governorate, and presented the position of farmers’ complaints in the governorate, and the proposed recommendations to deal with these obstacles. Provincial workshops.