President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi endorsed Thursday the €55 million-loan provided by the The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The loan is dedicated for the expansion of wastewater treatment in the northern governorate of Kafr el-Sheikh. The agreement of EBRD's loan was signed between the Egyptian government and the bank on December 29, 2014. According to EBRD's statement, the bank is improving the living standards of almost 500,000 inhabitants of the Egyptian towns of Motobas, Desouk and Burullus. The funding will support the construction of two new wastewater plants, the expansion of three existing plants and the installation of 700 km of pipes and 52 pumping stations, it said. Expanding the wastewater treatment facilities in Kafr el-Sheikh will substantially reduce the level of pollution from untreated domestic wastewater and thereby the contamination of surface and ground water. The investment will also benefit Lake Burullus, the main fishing lake in Egypt, and the Mediterranean Sea by protecting them from polluted wastewater, the statement revealed.
