Kuwait, Egypt ink $55m loan accord for desalination plant – $4.5m aid for homeless Palestinian families

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CAIRO, March 16, (KUNA): The Egyptian Government and Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) signed on Thursday the second loan accord, worth KD 18.5 million (USD 55 million). The new agreement, designed to contribute to financing construction of a sea water desalination plant in East Port Said, was signed by Egyptian Minister of International Investment Dr Sahar Nasr and KFAED General Director Abdulwahab Al-Badr.

The plant, with a projected 250,000 cubic meter per day capacity, will secure drinking water to East Port City, currently under construction. With its building, due to end by 2019, up to 150,000 cubic meter of water will be initially secured per day.

A 700-km-long network of pipes will be built, along with reservoirs, electrical and mechanical installations. The two sides also inked a grant worth KD 100,000 to fund a project for organic and biodynamic agriculture in North Sinai. The Kuwaiti fund has lent Egypt a total of KD 815 million ($2.7 million), in addition to 14 grants valued at KD 3.3 million.

Moreover, the Kuwaiti Government has given grants to its Egyptian counterpart; valued at KD 4.8 million ($16.8 million) for building schools, damaged in the 1992 earthquake and repair villages damaged in the 1995 floods. Donations totaling $4.5 million granted by the Kuwaiti government will soon be distributed to 550 Palestinian families whose houses were destroyed during the Israeli war on Gaza Strip in 2014, reports middleeastmonitor. com quoting Palestine’s Minister of Public Works and Housing Mufeed Al-Hasayneh. He told the local news agency WAFA that the families have been informed about the availability of funds.

Al-Hasayneh expressed gratitude to the State of Kuwait for its support for the people of Palestine. It is worth mentioning that Israel, in July 2014, launched a 51-day war on Gaza Strip, which resulted in the death of 2,200 people including children, according to the United Nations, and destruction and huge damages to many buildings and infrastructure.

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