‘Construction on arable land must stop’

Unprecedented achievements reflect importance of Upper Egypt

Egypts President Abdel Fattah El Sisi opened a number of development projects as well as a gasoline production complex in upper Egyptian governorate of Assuit on Thursday.

Following the opening ceremony, President Sisi said that establishing new cities aims to attract people to live therein and to provide investment opportunities thus create jobs for young people.

He added that agricultural lands were created on the River Nile’s banks over hundreds of years. The president said, “We need to preserve these lands” and also add more arable lands that can make up for the lands that were lost due to building on them in order to provide food for the Egyptian people.

Egyptians have been constructing units on the limited agricultural lands over the past 60-70 years despite the extended desert lands, President Sisi said.

The cost of reclaiming a feddan of desert lands range from LE250,000 to LE350,000, he added, affirming that the construction over agricultural lands must come to an end.

This means that the cost of reclaiming 1 million feddans is about LE3 billion, the president said.

My only goal is to preserve the Egyptian state and efforts are being made to achieve growth and prosperity amid the population growth, President Sisi said.

Over the past 30 years before 2014, the state had pumped LE30 billion annually, he said, adding that over the past seven years, the annual investment value reached an average of LE1 trillion.

The state has pumped annual investments of LE1 trillion over the past seven years, which is equal to the total investment value over the previous 30 years, the president added.

President Sisi asserted the importance of raising the public awareness about the danger of building on agricultural lands nationwide.

The president added that Egypt is losing a lot of job opportunities due to the building on farmlands.

The president said: “We can build more new cities but the issue is that the residents of Upper Egypt are not willing to leave their homes that were built on agriculture land to head to those cities.”

Meanwhile, President Sisi signed the first copy of a book documenting the achievements made by the state across Egyptian governorates in the past seven years, including development projects.

The signing came after Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli delivered a speech following the president inauguration of a complex for producing gasoline at Assuit Oil Refining Company (ASORC).

President Sisi also underlined the importance of co-operating to face overpopulation phenomenon.

He added that the new urban areas aim at facing overpopulation and preserving agriculture lands.

He pointed out that billions of Egyptian pounds were spent on investments in the past years due to the lack of development and investment for decades.

President Sisi said the state has been working to improve the living conditions of citizens, provide good services for them and reduce poverty through establishing such projects.

President Sisi urged the private companies to participate in the implemented projects as part of the state’s approach to engage the private sector in development process.

Of 4,375 private sector companies, 150 companies have participated with minimum investments of LE1 billion and maximum investments of LE75 billion annually over the past seven years, Sisi said.

The projects inaugurated or those soon to be inaugurated in Upper Egypt reflects the state’s keenness to overcome difficulties nationwide, Sisi said.

He added that the current labyrinth of underdevelopment is caused by ignorance, poverty, and lack of awareness.

We can only face ignorance with economic capabilities to achieve good education, the president added.

President Sisi also opened a number of development projects in Upper Egypt via video-conferencing.

New projects included Abu Qurqas water plant in Minya governorate, Abu Shanab sewage plant in Fayyoum and expansions in the Deshna water plant.

President Sisi asserted the state’s keenness on treating wastewater. He added that treating wastewater passes by three main stages process in order to benefit from this water and preserve citizens’ health.

He pointed out that the state had spent billions of Egyptian pounds to establish wastewater treatment plants including sewage and agricultural water.

The president also said that Egypt will be among the top countries that are dealing with water soon, noting that the state had spent LE300 billion on wastewater treatment plants in the past four years.

He said that he will be happy only when all projects including schools and hospitals were finalised as well as reaching the minimum wages to LE20,000.

The projects opened by the president also included the children’s hospital in Luxor, Samalut specialised hospital, the liver and gastroenterology hospital of Minya University and the expansions in the faculty of dentistry, Assiut University.

This came on the fringe of his opening of the gasoline production complex of ASORC in Assuit.

The project is aimed at serving the residents of Upper Egypt and saving the cost of carrying gas from refineries in Cairo, Alexandria and Suez to Upper Egyptian areas.

President Sisi expressed his appreciation for the Egyptians in general and for the residents of Upper Egypt in particular, saying that the opening of the development projects comes as part of the Week of Upper Egypt.

He added that some of the projects have been opened while others will be opened within days, reflecting the state’s keenness to overcome all challenges in Egypt in general and in Upper Egypt in particular. 

Upper Egypt’s share of development was less than that of the other governorates, he said, adding that efforts are under way to ensure that the entire state enjoys the same level at all sectors.

President Sisi stressed that Decent Life initiative will cover all parts and sectors across the county.

The scale of effort exerted over the past seven years, goes beyond long years of work and expenditures, Sisi said, noting that huge sums have been pumped to fulfill “our dreams for development, infrastructure, education and other fields”.