The New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA) has suggested supporting the plan to develop slums in Egypt using EGP 425m in collaboration with the Ministry of Urban Development and Slums. This will come as part of the proposed plan for the upcoming fiscal year (FY) 2015-2016, Minister of Housing Mostafa Madbouly announced in a statement. In the past few days, the ministry took further steps in realising social justice should include this new suggestion, Madbouly added. He pointed out that it also falls within NUCA's medium-term plan for 2014-2017. In its second year (2015-2016), it will target the completion of projects already initiated and starting new projects with an amount of EGP 28bn, in order to realise social justice. All necessary facilities and infrastructure will be established in the regions allocated to build housing units and to land parcels. This will take place besides the implementation of treatment plants for drinking water in several cities including 6th of October City, New Damietta and Obour, the minister clarified. In addition, a UAE donation will ensure the implementation of 50,000 units, complete with full facilities, to be completed in Badr City and Borg Al-Arab. The first phase of the project, named "Dar Masr", will be constructed in cooperation with the Armed Forces Engineering Authority, Madbouly added. Madbouly has also announced that it will take the ministry 14 weeks to deliver units of the "1m unit" project to its beneficiaries. He said that an 11 week workshop for the social housing project will begin with receiving citizens' requests, besides three weeks for bank work. This will facilitate the procedures for the project's applicants, where they will receive their units by the end of this time period. This duration will be initiated with the applicants to the fourth phase of the social housing project and will continue with further announcements. During the first period, limited to four weeks,the Housing and Developing Bank (HDB) will sort the applications and determine the completed ones. In the second period, limited to two weeks, the Mortgage Finance Fund and the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) will download accepted applications to the system of the Social Housing Fund. Within the third period, also limited to two weeks, the Fund will make further inquiries into those who applied and the approved applications will be sent to banks. During the fourth period, limited to three working days, a credit study will be undertaken and the fund will be notified with the credit approval. The fifth period, limited to three working days, will see the allocation through the executive organ of the project.
