Sisi lauds civil society's participation in stages of Bashayer El Khair housing project

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt - 26 December 2018: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi lauded on Wednesday the civil society's participation in carrying out the three stages of "Bashayer El Khair" in Gheit El Anab district of Alexandria.

Businessmen, the National Bank of Egypt and Tahya Misr Fund have exerted tireless efforts to bring this project to daylight but there is still a need to continue funding to complete the project, Sisi said while opening the second stage of the project aiming at upgrading shanty towns in the Mediterranean city.

Sisi said the three stages of the project total LE 9 billion.

He said the civil society and Tahya Misr fund will not contribute to the costs of the last and final stage of the project, adding that 600 million pounds will be provided from the Housing Ministry.

Head of the Engineering Division of the North Military Area Ahmed Azazi said 200 million pounds were provided to the project from the Housing Ministry.

President Sisi instructed officials concerned in each governorate to terminate contracts with those who do not pay the State dues, saying "we have never overlooked State rights".

Citizens should be given their rights but the State's rights as well must be respected and honored, he said.

"How can we have a contract for 20 or 25 years and State dues were paid only for one year and the rest was left unpaid," Sisi said.

He assigned the commander of the North Military Zone to help collect the State's overdue money from the International Park, Antoniades garden and the Waterfalls Garden.

Governors as well should follow up compliance with the State contracts because money coming from them is allocated to carrying out projects serving citizens, the President said.

Sisi said the State respects contracts signed with citizens hence citizens should pay their dues to the State or they will get into a legal dispute with the State.

President Sisi said contracts should be drafted in a way that guarantees State rights, urging army commanders and security chiefs to cooperate with the governor in each governorate to collect State dues.

This is also applicable to quarries, Sisi said, adding that a law regulating the work of quarries was drafted in the 50s and 60s but no financial profits came in return because the law was not put into force appropriately.

But measures have now been taken to address this issue, he said.

Commenting on remarks by a woman in a documentary released during the inauguration, Sisi urged citizens to think well before giving birth to many children, saying providing food, education and housing to children are the parent's responsibility in the first place.

The woman, a mother of six children, was complaining of hard living conditions.

Sisi urged the ministers of electricity, petroleum, water and housing to install pre-paid electricity meters in all new facilities and to take legal action against those who fail to pay their dues to the State.

He said the North Military Zone is responsible for collecting 400 million pounds from the International Park or else it will be demolished and replaced by another project.

He said Tahya Misr Fund paid in 2015 one billion pounds to back drainage companies and farmers and help clean the course of waterways and canals which meant that the State failed in following up the maintenance of its utilities.

Sisi held the governor, security chief, officials concerned and the Armed Forces commanders responsible for addressing any violations in their governorate.

He stressed that all violations in King Mariout area will be firmly removed.

"We will not accept any encroachments on State property and we will firmly address them," he warned.

"We will not stand hands-tied against such kind of violations. This is a national security matter I am talking about," Sisi said, urging all executive bodies to join hands to confront violations.

If violations were not properly handled, the State will be ruined, Sisi said.

President Sisi said, as regards achievements in the health sector in the governorate, "you have examined students in private and public schools and the surveillance showed that both social categories suffer from anemia and obesity."

The president called on parents to give attention to their children's eating habits.

He added that despite the fact that his recent talk about obesity has stirred a lot of jokes shared by people on social networking sites, yet the surveillance results assert the importance of cooperation between the government and the society in taking care of the nutrition of people to guarantee healthy children for their own benefit and for that of the state.

Four businessmen have offered around EGP 100 million each to fund the Bashayer el Kheir project, while Tahya Misr Fund offered EGP 700 million and 10,000 tons of construction iron, the president said.

He pointed out that Bashayer el Kheir 2 project has provided job opportunities and funding programs for projects.

He said he will discuss with each governor he visits the implemented projects in his governorate and will expound problems to the society during conferences. "I will not hide them," he said.

"Over the past five years I could not have been able to do anything on my own, if it were not for the support of all Egyptians,"