Egypt has designated Kharga in the New Valley Governate as its first eco-friendly city, Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad said on June 7.
“It was confirmed that Kharga is a green and eco-friendly city, " Fouad said, after an ad-hoc committee studied its air and water quality, natural resources and noise levels. She added, “The city is an ideal urban ecotourism model.”
Egypt’s Youm7 newspaper reported on June 8 that Kharga lacks industrial pollution "because there are no factories there other than date canning, in addition to the large share of green area per capita.” The report added that the city uses solar energy and natural gas, encourages agriculture, and is phasing out single-use plastic bags.
Kharga city is 232 km southwest of Assiut and is the capital of the New Valley Governorate. The city has many tourist and archaeological fundamentals, such as beautiful natural setting, hotels and tourist facilities built with special building materials, and urban agriculture on rooftops. The city, which stretches over 8.6 square kilometers, is inhabited by about 95,000 people, representing 39.6% of the governorate’s population.
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