President El-Sisi Meets PM, Ministers and Officials

President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met today with Prime Minister Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Dr. Mohamed Shaker, Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Dr. Mohamed Abdel Aty, Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities Dr. Assem El-Gazzar, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Mr. El-Sayed El-Quseir, Presidential Advisor for Urban Planning Major General Amir Sayed Ahmed and Head of the Armed Forces Engineering Authority Staff Major General Ehab El-Far.

The Spokesman for the Egyptian Presidency stated that the meeting discussed the executive plan to develop 1500 villages and their dependencies. It is the first phase of the national project aimed to develop the Egyptian countryside, he added.

The President gave directives for implementing this project in a comprehensive and integrated framework and in harmony between all concerned government agencies. This, in turn, would help achieve meritocracy, expedite the implementation of the project and establish good governance of all the pillars of the project. The aim of the project is to radically change the status and reality of the countryside villages concerning the infrastructure, the services, the social aspect, the health care and the living conditions.

The meeting discussed, in detail, the operational steps of the project’s first phase nationwide. 1500 villages are to be developed by improving their infrastructure components: water, electricity, gas, sanitation, canal lining, and roads, among others. In addition, the services are also to be enhanced; this includes health care, education and social programs. The role and responsibility of all concerned government agencies involved in the implementation of this project and the specified time frame were made clear during the meeting.

The Spokesman added that, during the meeting, the developments related to raising the efficiency of irrigation networks and agricultural wastewater treatment plants nationwide were presented. These development works aim to promote the current efforts of the state to expand land reclamation, especially in Bahr Al-Baqar drain, and to make use of the water of the main banks in Suez to cultivate new lands in the east and west of the Suez Canal.