Governor of Minya Qasem Hussein said on Tuesday that the Ministry of Planning and Administrative Reformation allocated LE241.3 million to support a development program for the neediest villages in Egypt.
During a meeting with senior officials in Minya governorate, Hussein clarified that the program’s funds totaled LE1.2 billion dedicated to the neediest villages in the five governorates of Sohag, Assiut, Minya, Aswan and Beni Suef.
Hussein asked that the funds be dispensed for the improvement of services and establishment of projects in the neediest villages.
He revealed that the governorate would fund LE241 million for education, health, environment, electricity, lighting, roads, drinking water, sanitation and irrigation projects as part of the program’s first stage in Minya during 2019.
During the launch ceremony of the Sustainable Development Targets project in 2018, the Planning Ministry detailed that the government in cooperation with the World Bank is allocating LE60 billion for a general development plan in Upper Egypt, marking a budget increase of 20 percent from 2017.
The first phase of development will comprise a LE10 billion investment for general development in five governorates of Upper Egypt including Assiut, Sohag, Qaliubiya, Qena, and Minya.
The sum is planned to cover projects in various sectors and fields including water and sanitation, infrastructure for industrial areas, transport and roadways, and other services.
The comprehensive development plan would focus on combining the efforts and visions of the private sector, civil society organizations, and youth – especially university students.
A 2016 paper by the World Bank deems that Upper Egypt “lags behind the rest of the country in economic growth, employment generation, connectivity, and access to services,” attributing this lag primarily to limited empowerment, effectiveness, and accountability of subnational governorates.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
