Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Development Ahmed al-Maghrabi said his ministry has delivered plots of land to 98 percent of the 87,000 youth participating in the Ibni Beitak (Build Your Home) project. Approximately 2000 people have not yet received their plots of land, either because they have not contacted the ministry or because they requested a postponement. The number of construction permits granted to the beneficiaries of the project has reached 80,208--or 93 percent of the total. Seventy-five thousand youth--accounting for more than 86 percent of the total beneficiaries--have already started construction. Al-Maghrabi said these figures indicate signs of the success of the project and the seriousness of the youth who wish to turn the desert into an urban community. He added that the ministry will continue to support the youth until all the services are made available. There are cities in the project where all the beneficiaries have started building their houses, including al-Saleheyya, al-Sadat and Sohag al-Gadida, added the minister.There are several other cities where construction activity has reached 95 percent or above. The lowest building activity is in 6th October City, because its plots of land were handed out latest and it has the highest number of beneficiaries. Galal Sayyed al-Ahl, head of the executive body for the national housing project, said the housing minister has given strict instructions to facilitate the payment of the state subsidy--the amount of which is LE15,000, to be paid in three installments--to the beneficiaries of the project. The first installment was approved for 65,000 youth, of whom 61,000 have already received it. The second and third installments have been approved for 47,000 and 23,000 youth respectively. Sayyed al-Ahl also said that 28,000 youth have also received the ton of steel which one of the steel companies has decided to give for free to the first 30,000 youth to benefit from the project. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
