Dr. Mohamed Fathy ElBaradiee – Minister of Housing- confirmed that the state sticks to the current prices of water, and there are no intentions to move these prices. During the Parliamentary session, El Baradiee answered the questions and claims about water pollution, as he said that there categories for water consumption, the first category includes 60% of the total consumers, and the price for this category is 23 Pts per square meter of water, besides that, all of the other categories have not changed in price since 1988. The minister said also that there are 2690 water purification station across the republic, and every station includes a laboratory of measuring the purification and quality of water, and he added that all of the stations are totally identical to the international standards according to the analysis of the central laboratory of the Ministry of Health. El baradiee added that there are many challenges facing the water sector, as it is required to provide water for 85 million citizens, which imposes an average daily production of 24 million square meters, and he clarified that the ministry has finished the strategic plan for drinking water and sewage, and the projects in every governorate were determined, as well as the financial credits that are amounted to 75 billion EGP for the upcoming 5 years, besides the replacement and renewal credits that reaches 3 billion EGP yearly, within 10 years, as MENA stated. The minister mentioned that the cost of producing the square meter of water reaches 112 Pts, excluding the actual investments cost, which is 2000 EGP per square meter at the time of establishment. He also added that the water companies' deficit reaches 2.75 billion EGP, and the ministry pays 1.75 billion EGP on a yearly basis, and because of the crucial circumstances witnessed this year, the Ministry of Finance has paid only 1 billion EGP, and consider the rest to be postponed as an annual deficit. El Bardiee also noted that there are 146,000 KM of water distribution networks, and 40% of them need to be renewed, as most of them were established 100 years ago. The minister asked the parliament members for their support, when discussing the plan and budget, because of the importance of this case to the Egyptian citizen.
