Egypt demolishes almost 26K unlicensed buildings in 65 days

CAIRO – 1 June 2020: The Ministry of Local Development demolished 10,611 unlicensed buildings on state-owned and privately-held lands between March 25 and May 30 in addition to 15,249 buildings established on agricultural lands.

There were 1,542 buildings constructed on more than 16,000 feddans owned by the state, and 13,707 buildings constructed on private 3,600 feddans.

Construction is banned on agricultural lands even if privately held. As for state-owned lands, agricultural or not, the government launched a campaign in 2017 to remove squatters.

In a different context, the amount of garbage collected between March 18 and May 28 has recorded 4.2 million tons with a daily average of 59,700 tons. The breakdown is 48.5 percent collected from Greater Cairo, 26 percent from Delta governorates, 13.4 percent from Upper Egypt, 9 percent from coastal governorates, and 3.3 percent from Suez Canal governorates.

The Ministry of Local Development suspended for six months the issuance of construction licenses for private buildings in Greater Cairo, Alexandria, capitals of governorates, and main cities.

The suspension includes licenses for modifications in the buildings like adding floors and expansions. The suspension is aimed at ensuring that terms and conditions pertinent to the construction are met.

It is noted that President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi instructed the continuation of mega national projects while taking protective measures against COVID-19. Those mainly include constructions in the 20 planned new cities, public transportation facilities, and roads among others.

In March, President Sisi instructed the postponement of the inauguration of national mega projects that were supposed to take place in 2020 to 2021, including the government’s relocation to the New Administrative Capital and the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM).