Eng. Adel Hussein, Head of the Department of Public Utilities at the New Urban Communities Authority, stated that the corruption of the former regime has led to squandering about EGP 10 billion at Ebni Betak project, demanding the prosecution of those who gave the orders to start construction before finalizing the utilities. He stated that the main reason of the failure of the project and the delay in its launch can be attributed to violating the regulations that must be in force when establishing new projects. According to these regulations, the planning and project management must set a plan for the the project and then the department of utilities should provide the required utilities in a period that does not exceed one year and finally the citizens can start the building. Hussein added that the citizens have begun the construction process before completing the utilities, which led to multifarious problems such as difference in the ground level at which the building started from one building to another. For example, the street drains may be higher than the houses. Moreover, the heights of the buildings are not the same due to the level of the ground. The New Urban Communities Authority has handled this problem by adjusting the streets according to the heights of the buildings, he said. Hussein also revealed that the Department of Public Utilities will complete the utilities at the sixth and seventh areas of the project, especially after expanding Sheikh Zayed Water Plant and increasing its capacity with 125.000 cubic meters per day, in addition to irrigating the plants with treated water instead of the turbid water, which is currently being purified to be used in the plant. He also affirmed that water can be accessed in the two areas.
