Egypt's PM says Kafr el-Sheikh 'glaring example' of unlicensed construction consequences

CAIRO - 29 September 2020: Kafr el-Sheikh is a glaring example of encroachments on farmland, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli said during a visit to the Delta governorate, emphasizing that the government is determined to counter unlicensed construction. 

 

Unplanned and unlicensed construction is a "crime" against the country, Madbouli said, referring to decades of such building resulting in shrinking fertile lands, communities in hazardous areas, and encroachments on state lands that could have been used for planned projects. 

 

He referred to big apartment blocks of 12-14 floors on streets with a width no more than 3-4 meters, creating a problem for the government in paving streets and providing facilities and services. Nevertheless, he noted that the new reconciliation law that allows owners of unlicensed buildings to legalize their conditions, except unlicensed buildings built after 2017. 

 

The prime minister visited several projects and installments in the governorate, including Kafr el-Sheikh University, which isone of the newest universities in Egypt. It has recently opened faculties that suit the nature of the governoate, such as fishing and fish farms and nanotechnology. 

 

He also visited two major hospitals established at a cost of L.E.3 billion, the largest agricultural seed center in Egypt with a plan to pump L.E.4 billion into animal production projects, a biogas power generation unit with a plan to expand this idustry, and canals that have been lined.

 

Madbouli said the government has a plan to line more than 20,000 kilometers of canals in the country to reduce any waste of water. 

 

He went ahead to visit Kafr el-Sheikh Desouk axis of 10 kilometers, one of the roads being built to vertically connect the Delta governorates to each other, as well as connect them to Suez Canal and Cairo.