Housing Research Center: 103 Municipal Engineers With 2.1 Billion Pounds of Wealth

A scientific study issued by the Housing Research Center revealed that the commissions received by top municipal officials to issue building licenses reached an annual of 500 million LE.  The research referred to a study conducted by the Public Money Investigation Authority in collaboration with the Building and Checking Research Center under the Housing Ministry revealing the arrest of 103 municipal engineers whose wealth amounted to LE 2,361,000,000.

 

According to the Wafd newspaper in its issue released Saturday, April 18, the study conducted by researcher Abdul-Khaliq Farouk affirmed that prices of building licenses range from five to 160,000 pounds depending on the neighborhood in which the building is to be constructed.  The study also showed that in the year 2006-07, 54,000 engineers in the engineering administrations of the governorates, cities, and neighborhoods were transferred to the administrative and public prosecutions.

 

The researcher referred to a recent Cairo University study on the unprecedented increase in the rate of building violations throughout the past years reaching 90% of the total real estate.

 

In his statement to Ikhwanweb, Member of the MB Parliamentary Bloc and the Parliament Housing Committee MP Azab Mustafa didn’t consider the report an exaggeration as corruption in municipalities, especially with regards to building licenses, had truly become widespread. 

 

Mustafa attributed this corruption to the absence of deterring laws arguing however, that “the Unified Law for Building issued three weeks ago guarantees the curbing of corruption in the municipalities and the withdrawal of power from them by allowing the license to be activated a month after the submission of request forms and if municipalities refused, a grievance could be filed against them in the Housing Ministry provided that it be within the next 30 days,” Mustafa added emphasizing that the new law would be sufficient to eliminate corruption in the building licenses if enforced.

 

Mustafa further called on the government to publicize this law so that Egyptian citizens are aware of their rights.  Mustafa also disclosed to Ikhwanweb MB MPs’ presentation of a clear and comprehensive proposal for the elimination of municipality corruption within a month.