CAIRO: A call from the People s Assembly (PA) for a ban on the auction of a parcel of land owned by the Dreamland Company has been overturned by the Housing Committee of the assembly. The area of land in Sixth of October City, which spans 831 feddans, was purchased by Dreamland in 1994 from the government at a cost of LE 90,000. It was expected to be sold at auction for LE 12 billion by MPs, but Housing Minister Ahmed El Maghraby stated that at most it would be sold for LE 4 billion. Under the terms of purchasing land from the government, construction must begin within an allotted timeframe, and if not then the land is repossessed. The findings of the Housing Committee which were announced Wednesday exonerated Dreamland and its owner, Ahmed Bahgat, from "freezing the land in order to sell it for profit. Maghraby said that Bahgat had paid for the land in full, but that he had accrued debt over the intervening years and thus that particular plot of land had been collateral for bank loans. Maghraby praised Bahgat for his efforts in developing Sixth of October through his investments over the years. Members of the PA had called for the ban to maintain the rights of the state before the land could be sold off and therefore complicate the legalities of ownership. In a session on Tuesday, they pointed out that the land should have been repossessed by the government as the planning articles on the initial contract had not been adhered to. Dreamland had posted an advertisement in local papers announcing the auction. Maghraby pointed out that land was no longer owned by Dreamland, but rather by the National and Masr Banks and therefore it was the state that had put up the land for sale, something which was not mentioned in the advertisement. Members of the assembly were not assuaged by Maghraby's comments and insisted that the land plot not be put up for auction. House speaker Fathi Sorour decided to refer the issue to the Housing Committee to investigate and present a report on the matter. A motion was set to delay the auction until the committee submitted its findings. The government offers land allotments in areas of New Cairo to investors small and large under the premise that the buyer begins construction on it within one year of purchase. Land plots offered by the government can range in size from 500 square meters to the larger areas such as the one allocated to Dreamland. In the case of the Dreamland plot, no construction was carried out on the land, attracting the ire of MPs who accused the company of "freezing the land so it could sell it for a higher price at a later date.
