Minister of Housing: 86.5 billion pounds. The total investments for Upper Egypt within 7 years

Dr. Assem Al -Jazzar, Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities, reviewed the efforts of the Egyptian state, represented by the Ministry of Housing, to raise the level of quality of life in light of the development plans in the governorates of Upper Egypt, which is inhabited by 29.3 million people (7.1 million people in urbanization, and 17.6 million people in the countryside), Distributed over 8 governorates (Fayoum - Beni Suef - Minya - Assiut - Sohag - Qena - Luxor - Aswan), with an area of 101.1 thousand km, including 16.1 % of the total republic.

The Minister of Housing started his speech, at the opening of a number of projects in the governorates of Upper Egypt, in the presence of President Abdel Fattah El -Sisi, by reference to the reality that Upper Egypt was, before 2014, where the limited share of Upper Egypt in investments in development plans for many years, as Upper Egypt suffered from a high poverty rate,, Which ranged between 40 % in Aswan and Beni Suef, and 58 % in Sohag and Qena, along with the high unemployment rate, which ranged between 10 % in Qena and 15.3 % in Aswan, in addition to the high illiteracy rate, which ranged between 14 % in Luxor and AswanAnd 30 % in Assiut.

The minister pointed to the development issues of Upper Egypt, which are the limited investment in economic plans, space isolation, urbanization and low quality of life, as it dealt with explaining and presenting an integrated vision to deal with these issues in implementation of the directives of President Abdel Fattah Al -Sisi, the first of which is the issue of limited investment in economic plansBefore 2014, only 9 % of the total investments in the housing and utilities sector were heading to Upper Egypt, due to the lack of incentives that encourage investment.

It contributes to providing new job opportunities, and the second issue, is the (internal) space isolation, where the weak link between the development ranges east and west of the Nile, and the difficulty of mobility between the two banks of the Nile, and this is a great obstacle to development, the weak link between Upper Egypt governorates, and the resource areas in Western Sahara, Ports and export areas in the Red Sea.

He added: The third issue is the accumulation of urbanization and the low quality of life, as the intensity of residential areas has increased for major cities, which reach more than 450 people / acres, as well as high urban crawl rates in cities on agricultural lands (1500 acres / year), besideWeakness of the efficiency of services and facilities, as the average coverage rate of drinking water services reached 85 %, and the average coverage of sanitation services is 22 %.

He stressed that all of the above are symptoms of a disease that has continued a lot, which is the imbalance in the urban pattern of Upper Egypt, in terms of the rate of urbanization to the countryside, which does not exceed 25 %, who attended for 75 % of the countryside, and the limited economic growth of Upper Egypt cities, and therefore we aim to attract the population to the new citiesTo provide economic activities, correct the existing defect in the distribution of the population, and raise the percentage of urbanization in Upper Egypt, because the urban is the power of economic growth.

Dr. Asim Al -Jazzar continued his speech by talking about controlling the urban pattern of Upper Egypt, as the number of new urban communities in Upper Egypt is 14 new cities (8 new cities before 2014 - 6 new cities after 2014) in addition to 6 other new future cities, and the population is estimatedThe future of the new cities in Upper Egypt with 9 million people, in the interest of the expansion of the urban estate.

In the city of Sohag, for example, the area of the urban space is 3142 acres, and the area added to the urban space to include the scattered 608 acres, since 2009, and the completion rate of urban growth in the added space, only 40 %, while the scattering area outside the space reached 120 acres,What confirms the useless expansion of urban estate, because it is no longer able to support its residents economically, and the alternative in this case is the transition to the new urban communities, which achieve and provide the necessary economic activities for the population.

The Minister of Housing, Upper Egypt, after 2014, asked where? Economic plans are dealt with by creating development areas for economic activities and investments, and the issue of space isolation, they are overcome by creating an integrated national road network, and the establishment of the axes New.

The minister said: The first strategy provides for the finding of development areas for economic activities and investments, as the proposed development areas within the national strategic plan for Egypt 2052 reach fifteen development scales, including 8 development ranges in Upper Egypt, and this indicates the importance of this geographical space in the state’s development plan, which is:

(The border triangle “Halayeb - Al -Shalatin - Abu Ramad” - Nubia and Lake Nasser - Toshka and East Al -Owainat - Luxor and Aswan - The Golden Triangle Termination - The National Logistical Triangle area - Tanmia Temperature South of Upper Egypt - Al -Minya Plain), while the second strategy relates to the establishment of the national road network, And the place between the developmental regions, and the support of the occasional spatial link between the production areas in the valley and the Western Sahara, with the export ports in the Red Sea.

Dr. Assem Al -Jazzar added: The third strategy relates to the development and raising of the efficiency of the existing urbanization, by improving drinking water and sanitation services, providing proper accessible housing (housing for all Egyptians), community services, developing unsafe areas, raising road efficiency, and creating new axes, Besides the establishment of new urban communities, to represent the network of financial, business and investment centers, so that there is a main center and business center for each proposed development range, and the financial and business centers are linked through a network of integrated development axes, all of which leads to a package of investment and economic activities for each Development Center.

The 14th round of a new urban gathering explained in stimulating investment and economic activities to achieve comprehensive development. In the period from 2014-2021, 272 investment projects were allocated to the private sector in the new cities in Upper Egypt, with an areaCurrent, 75 thousand total jobs.

The Minister of Housing dealt with the role of the new cities in providing investment opportunities for the private sector, citing the first stage of the Nasser gathering, "West Assiut", where basic facilities networks in the city were implemented at an initial cost of 2.2 billion pounds (1.4 billion pounds to implement the Assiut Plateau Road to connect the city to the city of Assiut, and 800 millionEGP to implement facilities), along with 1.1 billion pounds to implement housing projects.

The city also includes a number of projects implemented by the private sector, including an integrated urban project with a surface of 77 acres, another integrated urban project with an area of 104 acres, and regional services (private university), as well as allocating various service activities (educational - health - administrative).

The Minister also dealt with the development in the budget of the new Urban Communities Authority in the period from 2014: 2021, which amounted to a total of 600 billion pounds, as the total expenses increased on the various projects implemented by the authority in new cities from 46.5 billion pounds in the fiscal year 2014/2015 to 145 billion EGP in the current fiscal year 2020/2021, in addition to 85 billion pounds budget for the Ministry of Housing from the state, explaining that there are 18 projects with the system of the new Urban Communities Authority and real estate developers, on an area of ​​24 thousand acres, and are implemented over 10 years, With a total trillion pounds, 1.2 million provides jobs.

During his speech, Dr. Asim Al -Jazzar highlighted the size of the Ministry of Housing projects in Upper Egypt and the role of the private sector in their implementation, as the total investments amounted to 86.5 billion pounds, to achieve comprehensive economic and social development of Upper Egypt, during the period from 2014-2021, through 3 axes, the first of which,Upgrading the quality of life in the governorates of Upper Egypt, and the volume of spending on this axis reached 50.4 billion pounds, at 58 % of the total investments, and the second, raising the efficiency of new cities (previous generations).

The volume of spending on this axis amounted to 23.7 billion pounds, at 28 % of the total investments, and the third, the establishment of a new generation of new cities "fourth generation", and the spending volume of this axis reached 12.4 billion pounds, at 14 % of the total investments, and participated 2800 companiesIn the development of Upper Egypt, 1.4 million job opportunities were provided through the private sector (direct labor), and this confirms that the investments that the state spends in development projects are reflected in the growth of private sector investments and the provision of job opportunities.

He pointed out that these investments are distributed to the various sectors as follows, 45 billion pounds, to improve drinking water and sanitation services, and 22.3 billion pounds, to provide proper housing for different groups, 2.3 billion pounds to develop unsafe areas, and 5.4 billion pounds, To provide various social services and 11.5 billion pounds, to raise road efficiency, and to create new axes.

The Minister reviewed a number of projects that were implemented in Upper Egypt, where the efficiency of the existing roads in Upper Egypt cities was developed and raised at 439 km, at a cost of 1.2 billion pounds, along with the establishment of new regional roads, at lengths of 552 km, at a cost of 4.6 billion pounds, while in the field of providing adequate housingThe facilitator (housing for all Egyptians), 144 thousand housing units were implemented, of which 125 thousand social housing units, where the presence of Upper Egypt represents 7 % of the total population of the republic, and holds 16 % of the total executor of social housing units.

Also, 11113 housing units were implemented with housing (jacket - decent housing - Nubia - the villages of the desert back), at a cost of 1.4 billion pounds, in the context of providing proper housing for the category of low -income people, in addition to developing 115 unsafe zones, and 45 thousand units were implementedResidential, examples of this are the area of Eshish Mahfouz in Minya Governorate, the Al -Sahabi area in Aswan Governorate, as well as improving water and drainage services, where 474 projects for water and drainage were implemented in the governorates of Upper Egypt, at a cost of 34 billion pounds.

The Minister of Housing dealt with explanation, the returns of national projects at the level, including direct returns, which are to provide job opportunities, especially for returnees from Arab countries, as unemployment rates decreased from 13 % in 2014 to 6 % in 2021, along with the development of the volume of investments in the housing and utility sector, It increased from 9 % in 2014 to 25 % in 2021.

In addition to the national projects with direct return on the citizen, including the projects of the presidential initiative "a decent life", which will benefit 77 % of the residents of the countryside in Upper Egypt, in 883 villages, in 8 governorates, and the share of Upper Egypt villages is 61 % of the total villages of the first stage of the initiative, to serve12.4 million people, at 70 % of the population of Upper Egypt.

And Dr. Assem Al -Jazzar moved, in his speech, to review projects to improve drinking water and sanitation services in Upper Egypt, where the average coverage of drinking water services in Upper Egypt in 2014 was 85.2 %, and rose to 97.8 in 2021, and the average sanitation cover rate, 22.2 %, general2014, and rose to 33.3 %, in 2021, and this confirms that the sanitation projects that were implemented in Upper Egypt during the previous 7 years, parallel to 50 % of what was implemented during the previous stages.

He explained that during the period from 2014 to 2021, 199 draft drinking water in the governorates of Upper Egypt was being implemented with a total capacity of 2.5 million m3/day, at a cost of 15.7 billion pounds, and 446 sanitation projects were implemented, with a total capacity of 1.8 million m3/day, at a cost29.4 billion pounds, and total sewage treatment plants in Upper Egypt governorates, 60 treatment stations, with a capacity of 1.4 million m3/day, where 22 triple treatment stations were implemented, with a capacity of 640 thousand m3/day, at a cost of 4.4 billion pounds, and the implementation of 38 bilateral treatment stationsDeveloped, with a capacity of 760 thousand m3/day, at a cost of 5.4 billion pounds.

The Minister of Housing announced, during his speech, the launch of the training for employment initiative for the youth of Upper Egypt, through 6 traditional training centers, construction and construction work, followed by the Central Development Agency of the Ministry of Housing, which provides 18 thousand training opportunities annually, and the trainees receive certificates inVarious fields, adding: We will give an advantage in implementing our various projects for contracting companies that use the trainees in those centers from the youth of Upper Egypt, in order to provide job opportunities for these young people.

Dr. Asim Al -Jazzar, Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities, concluded his speech by presenting the opening projects, saying: Today, we will open 11 stations of drinking water and sewage (4 sanitation treatment plants - 7 drinking water stations), which are 3 projects in Minya Governorate (a water stationAbu Qurqas, with a capacity of 102/204 thousand m3/day, at a cost of 885 million pounds - expansion of the sewage treatment plant, with a capacity of 8 thousand m3/day, at a cost of 35 million pounds - the second stage of the drinking water station in the new city of Minya, with a capacity of 50 thousand m3/Day, at a cost of 53 million pounds).

And a project in Fayoum Governorate (Abu Shanab sanitation plant, with a capacity of 6 thousand m3/day, at a cost of 34 million pounds), and a project in Assiut Governorate (Dairout water station, with a capacity of 86 thousand m3/day, at a cost of 400 million pounds), and 3 projects in Qena Governorate (Drinking water purification station in the new city of Qena, with a capacity of 33.5 thousand m3/day, at a cost of 216 million pounds - Dishna water station expansion, with a capacity of 34/68 thousand m3/day, at a cost of 170 million pounds - Farshout water station, with a capacity of 34 thousand m3/day,At a cost of 300 million pounds).

And 3 projects in Beni Suef Governorate (expansion of a sewage treatment plant, with a capacity of 2.5 thousand m3/day, at a cost of 25 million pounds - Abu Sir sanitation plant, with a capacity of 12 thousand m3/day, at a cost of 197 million pounds - expansion of the Al -Wasiti drinking water station,Card 6 thousand m3/day, at a cost of 70 million pounds).

The Minister of Housing stressed that in coordination with the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, we have transformed the strategy of disposal of wastewater, to the safe use of treated water according to international standards and requirements, in order to maximize the benefit from every drop of water, and that we are parallel to achieving the quality of life for the Egyptian citizen,We work to achieve the quality of construction work in all projects, in order to maintain the huge investments that are spent on various projects.