Committee formed to decide penalties on unlicensed buildings' owners who did not request reconciliation in Egypt

CAIRO – 24 March 2021: Associate to Minister of Local Development and Spokesperson Khaled Qassem stated Tuesday in a phone-in that a joint committee has been formed with the Ministry of Housing to decide the penalties that will be imposed on owners of unlicensed buildings who have not submitted reconciliation requests.

Qassem noted that the deadline to submit requests is approaching as it is set for March 31. Until now, 2,780,471 requests were received, mainly from Beheira, Sharqia, Qalyoubeya, Menoufeya, Cairo, and Giza.

The official pointed out that the reduction in the price of the square meter used in calculating the value of reconciliation fees has contributed to the rise of requests submitted.

The value of the reduction is 20-70 percent in some neighborhoods in Cairo, 10-50 percent in Qalyoubeya, 25 percent in Alexandria, 30-40 percent in Gharbia, 20 percent in Beheira, 20 percent in Menoufeya, 25 percent in North Sinai, 40-50 percent in Menya, and 30-50 percent in Fayoum.

Qassem underscored that certain NGOs paid the reconciliation fees on behalf of some low-income citizens lauding what they offer to the society.