Important messages sent by Dr. Assem Al-Jazzar, Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities, during televised statements, regarding some of what has been raised during the past few days regarding what is happening on Al-Warraq Island.
The Minister of Housing responds to the lies and rumors regarding the development of Al-Warraq Island
At the beginning of his speech, the Minister of Housing referred to the allegations raised by some evil forces regarding what is happening on Al-Warraq Island, which has been repeated almost periodically, since the beginning of the implementation of development work on the island, which comes within the state’s plan to develop dangerous areas or degraded areas.
The Minister of Housing explained that the various Nile islands are considered nature reserves, and that Warraq Island has urbanization that serves agricultural purposes, explaining that this construction has been going on for long periods of time, but the urban sprawl towards Warraq Island was large, noting that the area of the block built inside the island in 1996 was Only 60 acres, and the rest of the area is agricultural land, and within ten years the built-up mass increased, becoming 150 acres, and in 2019 it reached 400 acres, which reflects the size of unplanned urban growth, and indicates that there are 25 acres that are being violated and built on them illegally. Regulated and unauthorized, as well as the problem of deteriorating the natural environment of the riverbed.
The Minister of Housing said: “Imagine 400 acres of buildings without sewage services, and the matter ends up being drained on the Nile River,” referring to the extent of the environmental deterioration resulting from these actions inside Cairo, the “capital”, stressing that this required the state to intervene quickly to deal with such actions. matters, as part of its plan to develop areas of imminent danger.
The Minister of Housing explained that the island’s area reaches 1295 acres, including the area of lands of slaughter, and the number of houses on it reaches 5,956 homes, pointing to the state’s plan to develop the island, which began with the implementation of the policy of consensual purchase, which the state pursues in various areas under development, in that The lands shall be owned by citizens, noting that according to the consensual purchase policy, the state purchases one feddan on Warraq Island for 6 million pounds, noting that what has been purchased so far has reached 888.6 acres, which represents 71% of the island’s area at a cost of 5 billion. EGP, which was disbursed directly to the owners of these lands, revealing the alternatives offered by the state, represented in providing agricultural lands for those wishing to obtain agricultural lands outside the island, by exchanging an acre inside it for 19 acres outside, by providing it in Sadat City.
The Minister of Housing stated, in this regard, that an acre on Warraq Island is equivalent to 19 acres in Sadat City, and he will get it as an alternative, and the citizen has the option if he wants to buy consensual, or to be compensated with agricultural land in Sadat, noting that some people asked to obtain those lands already.
