Gharbia’s village of “Nahtay” receives “Tarsheed” certificate: Says Planning Minister

H.E. Dr. Hala El-Said, Egypt’s Minister of Planning & Economic Development has announced that the village of Nahtay in Gharbia Governorate has received the Tarsheed Green Rural Communities certificate, making it the second green village rural development project "Decent Life" to receive the certificate, after the Aswan’s village of "Fares" which received a "Tarsheet" certificate last year.

El-Said said that the “Green Village” initiative, in its first phase, aims to rehabilitate one village in the 20 rural governorates covered by the “Decent Life” initiative, to comply with the latest global environmental standards of the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC).

She further pointed out that the initiative is considered a “success story” for partnerships with civil society organizations and private sector institutions, as it is being implemented in cooperation with the “E-Consult” engineering and environmental consulting company (the project consultant), and the Egyptian Green Building Association (an independent verification body), in a manner consistent with the UN SDG 17: Partnerships for the goals.

In the same context Dr. Jamil Helmy, Assistant Minister for Sustainable Development Plan Follow-up Affairs, and General Supervisor of the “Decent Life” project at the Ministry of Planning, stated that the recent period witnessed intense cooperation with the deputy governors, the general secretaries of the governorates, the “E-Consult” company, and the Egyptian Green Building Association.

Regarding the elements that qualified the village of “Nahtay” to obtain a “Tarsheed” certificate, Helmy explained that they are represented in lighting the roads and streets with energy-efficient bulbs to rationalize electricity consumption.

  Among these components are the presence of mechanisms and means to rationalize drinking water consumption and improve the efficiency of irrigation water consumption through projects to rehabilitate and line canals and use smart irrigation water control devices.

Helmy emphasized the importance of the initiative as practical training for local government officials to adopt the standards of sustainable development of the environment, consider the environmental dimension, consider the goals of sustainable development, and spread citizen awareness of these issues.