Reuters
The Egyptian Ministry of Irrigation responded on Friday to what was circulated regarding the Egyptians bearing the costs of lining canals and drains.
“The project of lining canals and drains is one of the projects adopted by the Decent Life Initiative, which aims to change the shape of the Egyptian countryside,” said spokesman for the Egyptian Ministry of Irrigation, Muhammad Ghanem.
Ghanem added that “the behavior of some citizens from throwing garbage and dead animals into canals, resulting in an uncivilized appearance in the countryside. Therefore, the ministry adopted a project for lining canals to rehabilitate them and improve water quality in them, as part of the presidential initiative to develop the Egyptian countryside.”
The ministry’s spokesman indicated that the canals sector has suffered for years from the presence of weeds and waste that impeded water access to agricultural lands, adding that “restoring the design sector of the canals and preserving it allows water to pass and reach farmers.”
As for the issue of the Egyptians bearing the costs of lining the canals, Ghanem asserted that it is “a completely false rumor, and that the project is entirely from the state budget.”
The Egyptian official added, “The state fully bears the cost of the canals lining project, of which the current stage costs 18 billion Egyptian pounds,” explaining that “the project targets all governorates completely in the valley and the delta.”
He indicated that the current stage of lining the canals targets a distance of 7 thousand kilometers and ends in the middle of 2022, noting that a distance of 1,000 kilometers has been completed and work is underway at a distance of 5,000 others.
“The project targets 20 thousand kilometers from canals all over Egypt, of whom 7 thousand are in the current stage, while the new phase of the project starts in the middle of next year,” he concluded.
Source: Egyptian media
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