Minister of Housing Mostafa Madbouly signed a protocol of cooperation Sunday with governor of Cairo Galal Saeed to develop three informal settlements areas at the cost of EGP 1bn.
The first area is located in the Sayeda Zeinab district in Cairo, of which the ministry will undertake development of 815 residential units in 18 months with EGP 187m, Madbouly said in a statement.
A total of EGP 799m will be allocated for the development of more than 6,000 residential units in an informal settlement area in the district of Mokkatam. The third area is El-Herafeyeen zone in the district of Abdeen with EGP 31bn to be allocated for soil stabilisation to protect and prevent buildings there from collapsing.
The costs of development works will be covered by the governorate of Cairo and the Informal Sector Development Fund.
In October 2015, €13m were allocated from a grant by the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) to launch development projects for citizens living in the informal segment, including those related to improved sanitation and further housing projects.
The grant was issued within the framework of the sustainable development strategy for Egypt 2030, which was developed by the Ministry of Planning and was announced in March 2015.
32 new areas are scheduled to be renovated in 13 governorates during the fiscal year (FY) 2015/2016, with EGP 1bn allocated in the budget to develop slums and markets in the same period, according to Madbouly.
The current figure is more than the previously allotted EGP 600m for development of the informal segment in the budget of FY 2014/15. Last year, EGP 500m was directed from the Tahya Masr Fund, which launched in June 2014, to develop the Doweqa district in Cairo.
Egypt has 1,300 informal settlements, 340 of which are in “critical condition”, according to government statistics.
