At the onset of his visit to the city on Wednesday, Assem El-Gazzar, the Minister of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Communities, convened a meeting at the headquarters of the Obour City Authority, Invest-Gate reports.

The purpose of the meeting was to monitor the progress of work across various sectors in the city and assess the status of ongoing development projects. Officials from the Ministry, the New Urban Communities Authority, the Drinking Water, Sanitation and Consumer Protection Regulatory Agency, and the head of the Obour City Authority were present at the meeting.

El-Gazzar highlighted that the amount of investments allocated to Obour City over the span of nine years during President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s tenure, from 2014 until now, is three times the total investments made in the city during the 32 years from its establishment in 1982 until 2014. The investments since 2014 have amounted to EGP 11.39 bn, whereas the investments in the city over the 32-year period reached EGP3.5 bn. Moreover, the city’s investment plan for the current fiscal year 2023/2024 exceeds EGP 760 mn.

El-Gazzar emphasized the importance of each new city agency generating its own financial resources and developing a plan to ensure the sustainability of development within the city. It is crucial to allocate these resources towards the maintenance and enhancement of ongoing development projects.

Additionally, he stressed the necessity of establishing an independent budget for the city’s drinking water and sanitation system. The budget for each facility within the city’s multiple development axes should be divided in a manner that aligns with the needs and priorities, while also emphasizing the review of the performance of drinking water and wastewater system operators to ensure the highest quality of operations.