The Egyptian Parliament's Housing Committee has approved on Saturday presidential decree No 43 of 2019 for the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) loan to improve rural sanitation services. In late December 2018, the AIIB's board of directors approved its first sovereign loan to the Egyptian government for $300m to improve rural sanitation services for 892,000 people in 178,000 rural households in selected governorates in the country. Under the programme, the AIIB will finance the physical infrastructure to provide sanitation services in five governorates in Egypt, including Daqahleya, Sharqeya, Damietta, Menoufiya, and Gharbeya. This programme is co-financed by the World Bank. The agreement includes the construction of new or expansion as well as the rehabilitation of existing wastewater treatment plants, in addition to upgrading and the construction of pumping stations. Furthermore it will incorporate the construction of integrated sewerage networks consisting of collectors and pumping mains and ensuring services for inhabitants of ‘satellite' areas located between villages where the main sewers will pass. After the committee's approval the agreement was submitted to parliament for final approval. For his part, Alaa Waly head of the Housing Committee in parliament called the minister of housing to speed up the termination of sewage projects because it represents a major problem for citizens, in view of the repeated requests by parliament members to discuss the problems of sewage and water projects in various governorates. On the other hand, Minister of Housing, Assem El Gazzar, said,”the ministry is trying to satisfy everyone, but the coming period will be a burden on the ministry, especially after the issuance of the law of reconciliation on building violations, where many citizens will apply for sewage services, and that the ministry does not have a budget to meet the needs of all citizens all at once.” The AIIB is a multilateral development bank with a mission to improve social and economic growth in Asia. Headquartered in Beijing, it began operations in January 2016 and has currently grown to 87 approved worldwide members.
