Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

PM: Egypt Lost 90K of Arable Lands over Last 10 Years


Wed 09 Sep 2020 | 03:46 PM
NaDa Mustafa

Egypt’s Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli said that Egypt has lost 90,000 of its arable lands over the last 10 years.

In a press conference held on Wednesday, the Premier stressed that the phenomena of random uncontrolled construction needs decisive actions, as it seriously affects the state’s resources.

"This phenomenon began in Egypt in the 70s," he noted, adding that the state is trying to compensate the negative impacts of agricultural lands' loss.

Moreover, Madbouli pointed out that the cost of a feddan's reclamation ranges from EGP 150, 000 to EGP 200,000.

In addition, the PM revealed that EGP 300 billion is needed to cover the completion of sanitation projects in the Egyptian countryside.

The reconciliation law on building violations

Concerning, the reconciliation law on building violations, Madbouli said that the law gives violators an opportunity to submit reconciliation requests within a period of 6 months.

"The number of applications that were submitted was not sufficient and is not commensurate with the size of the violations," the PM continued.

The premier added that the government addressed the obstacles that faced the law and amended it to simplify reconciliation procedures.

In addition, he noted that all state apparatuses have been instructed to give a two-month grace period for offenders to complete the required documents to apply for reconciliation.

Madbouli also emphasized that once the citizen receives the form no. 3, demolition procedures will be stopped and frozen.

Moreover, the PM said that the government decided to reduce the value of building reconciliation in several governorates from 10% to 55%.