Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb has tasked Planning Minister Ashraf El-Araby and Investment Minister Ashraf Salman to oversee a joint action plan’s implementation to reform and develop public construction companies, according to cabinet spokesperson Hossam EAl-Kawish.
El-Kawish said the plan is aimed at raising the efficiency of public sector construction companies, and that the plan will reform the financial, administrative and technical structure of those companies. This means they will be able to implement all projects planned for the current phase to the highest quality and efficiency.
The government owns several construction companies which represent its investment tools for the implementation of the infrastructure investment plan. However, they need to be reformed and developed, with the Arab Contractors Company and Hassan Allam as two of those companies.
According to El-Kawish, Mehleb met El-Araby on Sunday morning, and asked him to launch a national programme for wastewater and sewage sanitation projects. El-Araby was also assigned to complete the ongoing projects during the current year, with priority given to the most vulnerable villages.
A total of EGP 2.4bn from this year’s budget has been allocated to these projects, according to a cabinet press release on Sunday. The rest of the credits will be accounted for in light of the implementation rates.
El-Kawish noted that Mehleb advised El-Araby to coordinate with governors to build high-end central and general hospitals in each governorate. He added that this model could be generalised to the remainder of hospitals across the country.
As for the hospitals that have been built but remain functioning at only partial capacity or have not reached the required level, Mehleb ordered cooperation between the Ministries of Planning and Health, as well as governors. This cooperation should start working on the development of those hospitals, and provide all the necessary resources to them. This will qualify the hospitals to provide a good quality of health service to citizens, according to El-Kawish.
El-Araby reviewed the survey carried out so far, outlining the government’s non-utilised assets and facilities. Mehleb stressed the need for an urgent plan that aims to optimise these assets immediately.
According to previous statements by El-Araby, the government will launch a sovereign fund that follows the government. The fund is to be used to survey non-utilised assets in an attempt to maintain and develop them to maximise their revenues. This will be beneficial to the State Treasury and reduce the burdens on it.
