Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly. Egyptian Cabinet
The government has required island residents to leave their homes for a monetary compensation, alternative housing outside the island, or a resettlement on the island when development plans are completed.
Madbouly's call came during a meeting on Wednesday with Minister of Housing Assem El-Gazzar and Minister of Social Solidarity Nevine El-Qabbaj in the New Administrative Capital.
The premier called for expediting the measures to furnish alternative units established by the housing ministry in the island for residents who will leave their homes.
During the meeting, El-Qabbaj said that furnishing housing units in the island that were built to re-house residents have cost the state around EGP 160 million.
Last month, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi ordered engaging with civil society groups that have “successful experience in service and community field work” to enhance the state’s urban development efforts on Warraq.
El-Sisi also ordered the government to implement the development work in the optimal way and to meet the needs and requests of residents.
The president also followed up on efforts to improve the area’s infrastructure including electricity, water and sanitation services and road networks.
In 2020, the government started development work on the 1,295 feddan-island, which is home to 90,000 people as part of plans to develop the island.
The plan was rejected by many residents in the island who feared that they would be forcibly evicted from their homes.
The government asserted that residents would not be forcibly evicted and all relocated residents would be compensated properly.
The government has bought 888 feddans from island residents, accounting for nearly 71 percent of the island’s total area at a cost of EGP 5 billion, according to government figures.
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