Orascom should be stopped

Sept. 13, 2012

Washington, Iowa

To the Editor:

Is anybody concerned about the power faction establishing itself in southeastern Iowa? The Orascom Group will soon start constructing a $1.4 billion agricultural chemical production center in the lovely valley just south from the quaint Lee County village of Wever. Orascom, the largest publicly traded corporation in Egypt, is being given roughly 85 percent of its investment capital by way of various government grants, tax credits and tax abatements. Once construction is completed, it will employ around 165 permanent workers ? not many jobs compared to the cost of construction.

The Orascom Group is headed by Samih Sawaris, and the board of directors are German, Swiss, Moroccan and French. This multinational corporation is composed of various construction, hotel and telecommunications companies situated in Africa, Asia, Canada and the Middle East. Now, Orascom is moving into the USA.

The lead editorial in Sunday?s (Sept. 9) Des Moines Register revealed the Register?s concern about the impact of the Orascom project, which is the largest industrial project in Iowa?s history. The business section headline article was devoted to Orascom?s recent purchase of Iowa?s oldest construction company, Weitz Construction. When one reads between the lines of the interview with Weitz CEO, Leonard Martling, it is obvious that Weitz is looking forward to years of lucrative contracts with Orascom. Apparently other large projects are being lined up throughout the USA, and I assume at U.S. taxpayers? expense and bonded debt.

Would the Lee County Orascom Project be an example of what Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini was referring to when he said, ?Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power??

With the establishment of this fertilizer plant, I shudder to think of the huge amount of political power that will thus be concentrated and used to manipulate the people of southeastern Iowa and beyond. Again, Orascom needs only to come up with 10 to 15 percent of the funding ? the rest at taxpayer expense. This is a definite merger of government and industrial power a la Mussolini?s definition.

Are short-term construction jobs worth establishing this concentration of power into our native lands? How better could that tax money be spent? How many small home- and community-based businesses could be developed and succeed with just a part of this money invested in local businesses? Just think of the number of ways $1.4 billion could be spent if left in taxpayers? hands to invest in businesses and careers of their own.

And, just as important, does the state of Iowa need to be expanding our dependence upon agrichemicals for our agricultural production? How much more healthy it would be to see time, energy and money going into more decentralized, less polluting, and alternative agricultural production systems!

I feel this project should be highly questioned, if not stopped.

Sincerely,

Patrick Hazell