Public investments directed to Sohag in 20/21 plan rise LE 5.8B

Cairo - 15 November 2020: Public investments directed to the Sohag governorate in the FY 2020/2021 plan amounted to LE 5.8 billion, with an increase of 48.7 percent from the FY 2019/2020 plan, according to Minister of Planning Hala el-Saeed.

 “Public investments in Sohag Governorate are distributed across different sectors, as LE 2.5 billion is allocated to the housing sector, utilities and urban communities, LE 1.56 billion for the local development sector, LE 494.6 million for the education and technical education sector, LE 444 million for the health and population sector, in addition to LE 240 million for higher education and LE 640.4 million for other sectors,” she explained.

This came during El-Saeed’s announcement about the Citizen Investment Plan for Sohag Governorate for the fiscal year (FY) 2020/2021, as part of the Ministry's issuance of the Citizen Plan for the second year in a row in the governorates of Egypt.

The minister clarified that the “Citizen’s Plan” comes to affirm the citizen’s right to know the directions of the state's sustainable development plan. The minister stressed that it provides detailed information on investments directed by the state to each governorate and distributes them to different sectors.

El-Saeed added that the information contained in the plan helps the citizen to follow up on projects in his governorate, city, or village, which contributes to integrating the citizen into the planning and follow-up systems.

She explained that the four main objectives of the citizen’s plan are the localization of sustainable development goals, enhancing transparency, activating community participation, and spreading the culture of programs and performance.

The report of the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development reviewed what the citizen’s plan offers for the most important projects in the governorate. It stated that in the field of housing services, the plan includes 160 projects, whereby LE 2.5 billion were allocated to develop housing services, utilities, and urban communities.

The report also dealt with the most important development goals in the FY 2020/2021 plan in the field of housing, which is to direct about LE 1.76 billion for drinking water and sanitation services and to direct LE 345.2 million to develop unsafe informal areas and markets.

In the field of local development, the report stated that the plan includes 69 projects with LE 1.56 billion of investment allocated for local development, mostly in transportation and the construction sectors.

The aforementioned projects included overhead bridges for LE 41.6 million, rural and urban development projects for LE 119.3 million, local administration projects, and technical support for LE 122 million, environmental improvement projects for LE 300.9 million, local economic development projects for LE 694 million.

The report also reviewed the plan for the governorate in the field of pre-university education, which includes 13 projects with investments of LE 494.6 million. These projects include establishing and equipping (secondary education) classes for LE 8.6 million, developing the general office, and educational departments in Sohag Governorate for LE 8.6 million.

Concerning the healthcare sector, the report revealed that the plan includes 14 projects with investments amounting to LE 444 million to develop health services. These include the establishment of the central hospital in Tahta for LE 50 million, the completion of the development of the Sohag Teaching Hospital in Sohag with LE 54 million, the establishment of the Al-Ballina Hospital for LE 60 million, the establishment of Saqliteh Central Hospital in Sohag, at a cost of about LE 61 million.

The report also referred to what is presented by the citizen’s plan in the field of university education and scientific research in Sohag governorate, which includes 14 projects represented in developing university education services and scientific research for LE 240 million, establishing an emergency hospital and heart, chest, brain and nerve surgeries at Sohag University for LE 20 million.

 According to the report, the plan included the renovation of the Faculty of Law’s building at Sohag University for LE 20 million, completion of the Sohag University administration building for LE 27 million, equipping health facilities at Sohag University at LE 30 million, in addition to equipping educational facilities at Sohag University for LE 41.5 million.

On the local development program in Upper Egypt in Sohag governorate, the report revealed that the program represented 19.6 percent of the total government investments directed to the governorate during the same period, as investments amounted to about LE 3 billion were directed to Sohag during the period (2017/16 - 2020/19).

The program includes the implementation of 69 projects in all centers, as the report reviewed the most prominent sectors, which include the drinking water and sanitation sector by implementing 14 projects for LE 153 million, the road, and transportation sector by implementing 14 projects for LE 232 million, the electricity, and lighting sector by implementing 11 projects for LE 140.7 million, the security, fire, and traffic sector, implementing 12 projects for LE 57.3 million, and the environmental improvement sector by implementing 12 projects for LE 301.7 million.