[A] judgment issued by the Dekheila Appellate Misdemeanor Court on March 21, 2018 […] found Alexandria Portland Cement -Titan guilty of causing environmental pollution and violating the neighboring residents’ right to health […]The prosecution accused the CEO of Alexandria Portland Cement in his capacity as the chief responsible party with three charges […] failure to take precautions and measures necessary to prevent the emission of pollutants into the air, failure to take measures pertaining to the disposal and production of hazardous materials, and causing harm to the victims because of negligence, wanton behavior, and a failure to comply with laws and regulations. On 18th of January 2018 the misdemeanor court convicted the CEO of Alexandria Portland Cement on all charges, fining him LE20,000 for each of the first and second charges and LE200 for the third charge together with referring the civil suit to the competent court. The company’s lawyers appealed the judgment, and on March 21, the Dekheila Appellate Misdemeanor Court upheld the earlier judgment.

[…] The judgment is particularly important because current environmental laws and regulations allow heavy polluting industries such as cement and coal-powered plants to operate in residential areas, which represents a severe threat to the health and safety of the neighboring communities. While welcoming the judgment, EIPR noted that it remains the exception due to the legal difficulty of proving the environmental violations by factories.