Egypt will offer discounts ranging from 15 to 25 percent on reconciliation fees over building violations in new cities, Housing Minister Assem El-Gazzar announced on Monday. According to an official statement, Al-Gazzar said that the discounts are part of a plan to “ease the burden on citizens and encourage them to reconcile over the violations.” El-Gazzar said there are discounts of 15 percent on reconciliation fees on violations in New Cairo and Sheikh Zayed cities, and 20 percent for Shorouk city and 6 October, New October, Hadayek October, Obour, New Obour and New Damietta cities. A 25 percent discount will be offered in New Sphinx, Sadat, 10th of Ramadan, New Alamein, New Fayoum, New Minya, New Sohag and other new cities, the minister said. Egypt said on Friday that it had reduced reconciliation fees over building violations by 20 to 70 percent in 23 governorates, with Cairo seeing higher discounts. Egypt has stressed in the past weeks its adoption of “resolute” measures to stop building violations on agricultural land nationwide. The nation has seen a significant rise in illegal construction since the security vacuum that followed the 2011 uprising, with many people constructing multi-storey buildings without acquiring the necessary permits or complying with engineering safety standards. It lost up to 400,000 feddans between 1980 and 2011, and an additional 90,000 feddans in the past nine years, to building violations and land encroachments. Unplanned buildings constitute about 50 percent of the urban clusters in villages and cities countrywide, according to officials. In January, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi ratified a law allowing settlement with the state over building violations, except for those pertaining to safety standards, authorised height or purpose, historic buildings, and others. The law sets a six-month deadline, which will expire by the end of this month, to put an end to violations in the country. In late August, El-Sisi slammed building violations on agricultural land in a heated speech, and warned that he would deploy the army if the problem persists.
