Haya Karima spends LE 419M on Upper Egypt's Minya

CAIRO – 31 August 2021: A total of L.E.419 million have been spent by Haya Karima initiative on Upper Egypt’s Minya governorate, head of Water and Sanitation department in Minya has said.

In a Tuesday statement, Yasser al-Shahawy said drinking water lines have been extended to deprived areas at a cost of L.E.148 million, and renovating old lines have cost L.E. 40 million. Sanitation lines have become available at deprived areas in five villages at L.E.8 million.

Shahawy was visiting water projects in markaz Abu Qurqas, an administrative division that is bigger than a village and smaller than a city, which alone costs L.E.245 million.

Renovating wells have cost L.E. 3 million, and a water station in Beni Hassan Shorouk, an area south of Minya, was established at L.E.45 million to produce 9,000 cubic meters of water daily serving the villages east of the Nile in Abu Qurqas.

Haya Karima has helped noticeably in reducing poverty levels in the villages where it has intervened. 

The neediest villages are determined according to their poor basic services and infrastructure such as sanitation and drinking water, low level of education, high density in school classes, high need for health services, poor road networks and high poverty levels of families in the village.

The project takes on a comprehensive dimension, not a specific sector. It rather seeks a comprehensive development in Upper Egypt’s villages including sanitation, drinking water, roads, telecommunications, transportation, electricity, environment, housing, education, health, women, children, those with special needs. It also tries to raise income by increasing production, job opportunities and diversifying income resources.

In its first phase, the budget included replanning 353 hazardous areas, providing 262,000 housing units for slum inhabitants and 354,000 apartments for low-income people, as well as 150,000 apartments for medium income people. 

The first phase of the initiative raised the efficiency of about 400 of the poorest villages. That included 100 medical units at a cost of L.E. 450 million, paved roads and bridges at L.E. 3.8 billion, 500 power projects at L.E. 1.4 billion, and 141 sanitation projects at L.E. 1.5 billion.