The Central Administration for Protecting Arable Lands issued a report that revealed more than 100,000 cases of people encroaching on arable land in the Nile Valley and Delta within 66 days. The organization reported 108,316 incidents from the outbreak of the 25 January revolution until March 31. According to the report, about 2600 of those who infringed on the lands have been removed, while more than 105,000 remain. Five governorates had more than 10,000 violations each: Beheira had the highest with 23,000 incidents, followed by Monufiya, Gharbiya, Daqahlia and Sharqiya governorates. Port Said, Suez, Cairo, and New Valley governorates did not have any encroachments. High-level Ministry of Agriculture sources attributed the outbreak of encroachments to the security situation in Egypt and the absence of police during the revolution. Sources said the number of violations is expected to decline due to the return of the police, in addition to the military's efforts to stop trespassers. Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Ayman Farid Abul Hadid stressed that land encroachments are expected to decrease in the next few days after concerned ministries agreed not to grant the trespassers licenses for the delivery of public utilities such as electricity and water, in addition to fining them 1 percent of the total value of illegal work done on the land. The minister also said in a press statement that building height restrictions have been loosened to help combat the problem. In villages, buildings may now be as tall as twice the street's width, which may help reduce the need for people to infringe and build on agricultural lands. Translated from the Arabic Edition
