Major General Dr. Abdel Fattah Serag, Governor of Sohag, laid the foundation stone today for the sanitation project in Olad Azzaz village and the Minyawi area, with a cost of 378 million Egyptian pounds. The ceremony was attended by Eng. Mohamed Salah El-Din Abdel Ghaffar, Chairman of the Board of the Sohag Water and Wastewater Company, Eng. Magid Reda, Deputy Regional Manager of the CES consulting office for the Middle East and North Africa, MPs Alfet El-Mazlawi, Ahmed Awaja, Hatim Mubarak, and Farida Salam, Head of Sohag Center and City.

The governor emphasized the importance of the project as part of the state’s efforts to advance infrastructure projects and achieve sustainable development aimed at improving citizens’ quality of life. The new station will serve thousands of residents in Olad Azzaz, Minyawi, and neighboring villages, helping to alleviate residents’ suffering and protect the environment and public health. He directed continuous follow-up on the project’s progress to ensure timely completion according to the set schedules.

The Chairman of Sohag Water explained that the project serves Olad Azzaz village, Minyawi area, and the surrounding hamlets of Al-Samana, Al-Sayed Gharib, and Al-Dahalba. The project is financed in cooperation with the German Development Bank (KFW), the French Development Agency (AFD), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Commission (EU), and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), as part of the program to improve water and sanitation services, with a total value of 378 million EGP.

The project includes a sewage pumping station for Olad Azzaz village and another for the Minyawi area. The governor noted that the coverage rate of sanitation services in the governorate was 20% in 2014 for 116,282 subscribers, rising to 34% in 2025 with 325,442 subscribers after the first phase of the presidential initiative to develop Egyptian rural areas “Decent Life”. After completing the second and third phases and ongoing projects, coverage is expected to reach 75% for 696,000 subscribers.

The Deputy Regional Manager added that the project includes a pumping station for Olad Azzaz with a design capacity of 181 liters per second, a gravity network 21,000 meters long, a discharge line 5,000 meters long, and a pumping station for Minyawi with a design capacity of 124 liters per second, a gravity network 13,000 meters long, and a discharge line 4,000 meters long. The project will benefit 40,000 people and is scheduled to be completed within 18 months.

Governor Serag affirmed that the governorate will spare no effort in supporting and implementing service and development projects that improve citizens’ living standards. He met with a number of residents and congratulated them on the new projects, with many expressing their happiness at the long-awaited sanitation project.