Egypt on Thursday renewed its warning against the dangers of trespassing on state-owned lands across the country, an informed source said.
The source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the government has been implementing several measures and technical committees have been working around the clock to restore state-owned lands.
Egyptian Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli pledged no tolerance, stressing the need to deal strictly with any complaints about trespassing.
In 2017, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi launched a campaign to restore state-owned lands and evict squatters. The President had blamed some state officials for turning a blind eye to unlicensed building on farmland in violation of the law.
The source said that the government aims to resolve 402,000 violations on 7.8 billion square meters of land.
To do that, provincial authorities plan to launch a security crackdown after the Eid al-Fitr holiday to stop violators.
Last February, parliament’s constitutional and legislative committee agreed that residents who illegally build on farmland and state-owned lands could face up to five years in prison and a fine of up to one million Egyptian pounds.
MP Ahmed Saad told Asharq Al-Awsat on Thursday that trespassing on state lands is a crime and requires action by all state apparatuses to end ongoing violations.
Saad said that by ending the violations, the Egyptian government would increase revenues through construction and infrastructure projects.
