Twelve new drinking water and sanitation projects have been completed and nine wastewater treatment plants are under construction in Assiout Governorate, Upper Egypt, 380 kilometres south of Cairo, Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities Assem el-Gazzar announced on Monday.
A total of 189 sanitation service projects are planned for rural areas in Assiout, of which 151 are part of the first phase of the presidential rural development initiative, Decent Life.
The projects are being carried out by the ministry’s National Organisation for Potable Water and Sanitary Drainage (NOPWASD).
The aim of Decent Life, which was launched on an experimental basis in 2019 by President Abdel-Fattah El Sisi and the first phase was officially launched in July 2021, is to improve living standards, infrastructure and essential services in 4,658 villages across the country — home to 58 per cent of the population.
NOPWASD Chairman Ihab Khedr said there 13 rural areas already wave sewage services in Assiout and more schemes have been completed in 20 other areas, which represent 14 per cent of the total rural population, or 500,000 people.
The sanitation service is being now extended to other 169 rural areas, 151 of which are part of Decent Life initهative.
