Cairo’s fishermen, faced with dwindling catches from the Nile, are downing their rods and instead collecting plastic waste for recycling – an activity they say now yields a greater profit as pollution kills the river’s once bountiful marine life.
The 1,600-kilometre Nile river has become a dumping spot for rubbish and dead animals, the fishermen say, despite being the main source of water for the country's 106 million people.
“I alone remove no less than 200 to 500 kilos of plastic from the Nile every week,” said Arafa Saber, a 38-year-old fisherman and resident of Al Qusayrah, a Nile island in Giza province that forms a sizeable portion of Greater Cairo’s southwestern areas.
The plastic is mostly sold to recycling companies for an average price of 32 Egyptian pounds ($0.66) per kilogram. The figure varies slightly depending on the variety and quality, he said.
Mr Saber is not alone in his endeavour. Many fishermen, rubbish collectors and private sector initiatives have been striving to clean up the river for nearly a decade. The VeryNile initiative, which works to recycle the plastic into goods for sale, collected more than 200 tonnes of waste from the Nile between 2021 and 2023. A significant portion was plastic.
Around 10 years ago, Mr Saber and his fellow fishermen would catch between 20 and 25 kilograms of fish per day; now he is only able to fish between two and four kilograms. The quality of the fish has also deteriorated, he told The National, recounting that for the past year or two, many extracted from Greater Cairo stretches of the river – some of its most densely populated parts – have emitted a stench when opened and cleaned by fishmongers.
“A customer might fry the fish, thinking that it would get rid of the stink, and then throw it away without eating it. But because it is my livelihood, I catch it and sell it while feeling guilty because it’s fish that I myself wouldn’t eat,” Mr Saber said.
When he first started collecting rubbish, Mr Saber recounts being chastised by people who looked down on him. “Now, the same people who criticised me have themselves started to collect rubbish, and many even brought their children, friends and family members into the profession,” he said.
The practice has become commonplace in many areas of Cairo, not just along the Nile river, as Egyptians struggle with the high cost of living following a series of economic downturns.
While he initially “walked among people feeling embarrassed”, now he feels pride because “if I had to carry mud over my head to ensure my son’s safety, I would do that”. Mr Saber has learnt to ignore insults and sometimes attempts to educate people. In recent years, he has found that collecting trash is more profitable than fishing, and he intends to continue.
A group of fisherwomen in Giza’s Bahr El Aazam district told The National that the number of fish in the Nile has fallen in addition to their edibility. Many reported having to row their boats north or south of Cairo to reach stretches in more rural areas where the fish are healthier and more plentiful.
Umm Reda, 55, said extensive construction was to blame along the banks of the Nile in central Cairo, where a wave of state-sponsored projects have resulted in riverside promenades, cafes, restaurants and luxury high-rise apartments. She told The National she repeatedly saw construction materials being dumped in the river.
Egypt’s government, through its ministries of environment and water resources, has launched multiple clean-up initiatives, with several held to mark celebrations related to the environment, such as World Cleanup Day and Cairo Water Week. However, the government’s efforts have so far fallen short and initiatives like VeryNile, which has worked with fishermen in Al Qusayrah, are helping to fill the gap.
With millions of Egyptians facing economic hardship and anxiety, Mr Saber’s reliance on the Nile, even as a source of rubbish rather than fish, is a stark reminder of how essential the river is to Egypt’s people, who look to its waters for their livelihoods just as their ancestors did thousands of years ago.
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
Profile
Company: Libra Project
Based: Masdar City, ADGM, London and Delaware
Launch year: 2017
Size: A team of 12 with six employed full-time
Sector: Renewable energy
Funding: $500,000 in Series A funding from family and friends in 2018. A Series B round looking to raise $1.5m is now live.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The past Palme d'Or winners
2018 Shoplifters, Hirokazu Kore-eda
2017 The Square, Ruben Ostlund
2016 I, Daniel Blake, Ken Loach
2015 Dheepan, Jacques Audiard
2014 Winter Sleep (Kış Uykusu), Nuri Bilge Ceylan
2013 Blue is the Warmest Colour (La Vie d'Adèle: Chapitres 1 et 2), Abdellatif Kechiche, Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux
2012 Amour, Michael Haneke
2011 The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick
2010 Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Lung Bunmi Raluek Chat), Apichatpong Weerasethakul
2009 The White Ribbon (Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte), Michael Haneke
2008 The Class (Entre les murs), Laurent Cantet
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 1 (Gundogan 56')
Shakhtar Donetsk 1 (Solomon 69')
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How the UAE gratuity payment is calculated now
Employees leaving an organisation are entitled to an end-of-service gratuity after completing at least one year of service.
The tenure is calculated on the number of days worked and does not include lengthy leave periods, such as a sabbatical. If you have worked for a company between one and five years, you are paid 21 days of pay based on your final basic salary. After five years, however, you are entitled to 30 days of pay. The total lump sum you receive is based on the duration of your employment.
1. For those who have worked between one and five years, on a basic salary of Dh10,000 (calculation based on 30 days):
a. Dh10,000 ÷ 30 = Dh333.33. Your daily wage is Dh333.33
b. Dh333.33 x 21 = Dh7,000. So 21 days salary equates to Dh7,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service. Multiply this figure for every year of service up to five years.
2. For those who have worked more than five years
c. 333.33 x 30 = Dh10,000. So 30 days’ salary is Dh10,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service.
Note: The maximum figure cannot exceed two years total salary figure.
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
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MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Fixture: Liechtenstein v Italy, Tuesday, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match is shown on BeIN Sports
more from Janine di Giovanni
A timeline of the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language
- 2018: Formal work begins
- November 2021: First 17 volumes launched
- November 2022: Additional 19 volumes released
- October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
- November 2024: All 127 volumes completed
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Fixture and table
UAE finals day: Friday, April 13 at Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
- 3pm, UAE Conference: Dubai Tigers v Sharjah Wanderers
- 6.30pm, UAE Premiership: Dubai Exiles v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
UAE Premiership – final standings
- Dubai Exiles
- Abu Dhabi Harlequins
- Jebel Ali Dragons
- Dubai Hurricanes
- Dubai Sports City Eagles
- Abu Dhabi Saracens
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
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Profile of RentSher
Started: October 2015 in India, November 2016 in UAE
Founders: Harsh Dhand; Vaibhav and Purvashi Doshi
Based: Bangalore, India and Dubai, UAE
Sector: Online rental marketplace
Size: 40 employees
Investment: $2 million
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Results
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Movie: Saheb, Biwi aur Gangster 3
Producer: JAR Films
Director: Tigmanshu Dhulia
Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Jimmy Sheirgill, Mahie Gill, Chitrangda Singh, Kabir Bedi
Rating: 3 star
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
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