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Minister of local development, Major General Mahmoud Sharawy has held a meeting with a delegation from the EBRD that included Khaled Hamza, assistant manager at EBRD office in Cairo and Baval Lenik, assistant manager at the unit of contracting and infrastructure of the EBRD in the presence of a number of the ministry’s leaders.

They discussed during the meeting the procedures required to put into force the agreement signed by the minister of local development few days under the supervision of prime minister and in the presence of the minister of investment and international cooperation. The agreement is concerned with the safe disposal of solid waste as part of ‘Kitchener drain depollution project’ with a cost of79 million euros.

Minister Sharawy asserted that the project will have multiple environmental, health, and economic returns on 180 villages at the three governorates that the drain passes by and which includes: 118 villages at El-Gharbiah, 29 villages at El-Dakahlia, and 35 villages at Kafr El-Sheikh.

Minister Sharawy further added that the project will contribute in eliminating the drain pollution, building new infrastructure using the international experience, improving the surrounding environment of the habitants of the three governorates, and purifying the water produced of the drain and re-use it in agriculture.

Minister Sharawy showed the ministry’s willingness to cooperate with international organizations and development partners in order to improve the living conditions of Egyptians and upgrade the quality of public service offered in the different governorates.

Minister Sharawy later presented the latest outcomes of ‘local development program in Upper Egypt’ that the Egyptian government is implementing in cooperation with World Bank in both Sohag and Qena. The program aims to raise the capacities of the employees in order to be qualified for leadership positions at the governorates and setting the basis for a new system to well manage the projects that are taking place in the governorate. Besides, Minister Sharawy asserted on the necessity of training and raising the capacities of employees in the three governorates as part of ‘Kitchener drain depollution project’ as well as the calibers of the ministry which would help them in overviewing the different projects that are taking place in the localities. In this regards, he said that the ministry is keen to improve the capacities of Sakkara training center and turning it to an academy in cooperation with the Arab Academy for science technology and maritime transport.

The meeting also tackled the different aspects of cooperation between the two sides in the field of decentralization, which the government and the ministry is keen to adopt it across the governorates in the coming period.

Khaled Hamza, assistant manager at EBRD office in Cairo said that EBRD is planning to allocate part of the project fund for training and raising the capacities of the technical workers that will be working in the project. He also added that the bank will visit Aswan next month to monitor the ongoing projects there and that it will open a new office in Ismailia. Accordingly, he emphasized that EBRD will coordinate with the ministry in the coming period to cooperate on the expected projects that are to take place in multiple governorates.