CAIRO - Land prices in Assiut are amongst the highest in Egypt because this governorate has only a limited amount of land for construction purposes. Land prices soared to LE50,000 per square metre. Assiut is not a unique; there are many other governorates suffering from the same problem. Green areas have been swallowed by urban expansion, which leads to the suggestion that the desert should be used for housing projects. However, Mubarak's regime didn't establish such projects fast enough. As a result people in these governorates were either forced to build on arable land and violate the law or move to the capital, which increased the burden on its basic utilities. Citizens of Assiut and other southern governorates were extremely pleased when Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), allocated some 3,734 feddans (acres) of State land for the construction of a giant housing project called Hadabat el-Amal (the Plateau of Hope). "This project was designed two years ago but never got implemented by the Nazif government," said Hassan Younes, professor of civil engineering at Assiut University, who created the project. Former governor Nabil el-Ezabi came up with the idea when struggling to solve the chronic housing problem in Assiut. "While inspecting the hinterland of his governorate, el-Ezabi discovered a plateau some 7 km from Assiut. A path across the mountain led to the plateau and extended to the western Assiut-Cairo road. He immediately asked a team of professors at the Faculty of Engineering and urban planning officials to conduct a feasibility study about the creation of housing, industrial and investment projects on this plateau," Younes said to Al-Ahram newspaper. On his part, Assiut governor el-Sayed el-Boraai promised to extend the road connecting the eastern and western desert roads across the plateau to serve the industrial zones. This would facilitate the movement of trade commodities in the governorate and with the others in the New Valley as well as Red Sea ports. The governor also mentioned a ring road that would connect the new building project with Assiut City, which would encourage citizens to move to the new settlement. The project would start with seven housing communities on the plateau and promote tourism, as it was close to the famous Virgin Mary Monastery in Dronka, where the Holy Family is believed to have taken refuge during their visit to Egypt. Every August the monastery has two million visitors. Many bring their infants for christening. Egypt is in urgent need of projects like the Plateau of Hope, and its implementation gives hope that more will follow.
