Slums on top of Cairo governorate’s agenda: Cairo governor

CAIRO – 5 December 2017: Cairo Governor Atef Abdel Hamid told Egypt Today on Tuesday that Cairo’s history goes back 1,100 years as one of the oldest and treasured capitals in the world, and he hopes to return it to its long history as one of the best capitals ever.

The governorate works on many axes and projects, including cleaning, youth housing, transportation and large projects such as new cities and residential neighborhoods, added Abdel Hamid.

Dealing with slums is one of the most important issues on Cairo’s agenda. Cairo has 112 slums, including 60 unsafe areas, containing 4 million citizens, representing 40 percent of Cairo residents, he stated.

The governorate has finished more than 50 percent of the construction works in several projects for the development of slums, including the project of “Tal el- Aqareb” (Hill of Scorpions) in the Sayada Zeinab disctrict, which exceeded 80 percent of the construction works; the Ahlina project in Al Salam 1, which exceeded 50 percent of the construction works; and the Al Mahrousa 1 and 2 project, where 90 percent of the construction works have been completed, Abdel Hamid said.

The governor announced that Cairo has joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the field of handicrafts and indigenous folklore.

Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi launched a development campaign in 2016 to encourage young Egyptians to establish small- and medium-sized enterprises, and Cairo governorate followed up with this project, which "aims to curb unemployment rates.”