Egyptian media revealed on Monday that the government is seeking to develop cemeteries, a first-of-its-kind step in years. According to the Egyptian newspaper Al-Shorouk, the CEO of SOKNA company, Ahmed Gaballah, stated that the company is currently in talks with the government to launch a project for developing and rehabilitating cemeteries in cooperation by 2026. During a press conference, he indicated that the discussions include developing and building new cemeteries and rehabilitating existing ones, while moving those that are not suitable to new locations. Gaballah clarified that work will also be carried out on developing archaeological cemeteries without damaging or demolishing them, and land plots near new targeted residential areas are currently being studied and identified. Through its ambitious development vision 'Egypt 2030', Egypt aims to reduce the area of existing cemeteries within the Greater Cairo urban footprint by approximately 1,058 feddans. It also targets allocating about 10,000 feddans to establish new cemeteries in the east and west of Greater Cairo, in addition to relocating parts of existing cemeteries, especially those suffering from problems with high groundwater levels.
