By Gazette Staff CAIRO, July 10, 2018 - The Minister of Local Development, Major General Mahmoud Shaarawi, held a meeting on Tuesday with the Janet Heckman, Managing Director, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Southern and Eastern Mediterranean, and her accompanying delegation. During the meeting, Minister Shaarawi reviewed ways of supporting and improving co-operation between Egypt and the EBRD. Discussions also covered the latest developments pertaining to the purging of the Kitschner irrigation waste canal, which passes through three governorates: Gharbiya, Dakahlia and Kafr El Sheikh. The project is being co-funded by the European Investment Bank, EBRD, the European Union and the Egyptian government. The cost of the first stage of the project totalled around 481 million euros. The minister praised the level of co-operation between Egypt and Europe in all fields. In the course of the meeting, he welcomed the increase in the number of joint projects with the EBRD, especially in the governorates of Upper Egypt and the provinces in most need of infrastructure projects that benefit citizens and improve the services provided to them. Minister Shaarawi said that the Kitschner Canal purging project, when completed, would serve about 180 villages in the three governorates through which the canal passes. The minister added that the project was aimed at improving the health conditions of the residents of the three governorates by providing proper sanitation services, solid waste disposal and improving water quality.
