Wafd Party MP Mostafa al-Nowaihy demanded Saturday that the People's Assembly Saturday question the minister of religious endowments over what he called "the plunder of the lands of the [Ministry of Religious] Endowments under eyes of all ministry officials."
In his request, Nowaihy said the minister oversaw auctions of ministry lands in favor of specific people. He said there was mafia of people specializing at buying the lands at values less than ten times than their true value.
"What is the fate of the Egyptian endowments' lands abroad in many Arab and European countries?" he added.
Nowaihy also submitted another request to the Suggestions and Complaints Committee at the People's Assembly demanding that the Ministry of the Mineral Wealth Department affiliated with the Ministry of Petroleum be converted into an independent ministry.
The MP said that the department was formerly under the Ministry of Industry before it was moved to the Ministry of Petroleum, which affected the department negatively and wasted the efforts of researchers due to instability. He added the department could have contributed significantly to boosting the Egyptian economy if properly used.
He stressed that making good use of these forms of wealth would add value to the Egyptian economy in amounts exceeding the revenues of tourism and the Suez Canal.
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
