Egypt's realty sector is facing the biggest challenge to date - bureaucracy.
Daker Abdallah, a member of Egyptian Businessmen's Association and Egyptian Federation for Construction and Building Contractors (EFCBC) says that the construction companies are facing the biggest setbacks due to government routine and bureaucracy, according to a Daily News Egypt report.
As a result, the President's promises for development projects and implementations are being hindered, with timelines being unnecessarily reduced.
In a press statement, Abdallah made emphasis on how important it is to overcome all the obstacles they are facing and to provide support for the Egyptian construction revolution which as already commenced with the National Roads Network, the New Suez Canal, and the one million housing units projects.
He also called the attention of the Prime Minister to act on the matter and to find a solution to resolve the issue and most importantly, to save the real estate sector and the entities under it as well as timely implementation of major national project. Further, he made a valid point when he said that the country is expected to see an unprecedented boom in the currently problematic sector, hence, all obstacles must be removed.
Abdallah added, "According to the state's administrative bodies, construction companies should provide reports on obstacles that disrupted the implementation of projects to the concerned authorities, and request extension of no less than 60 days."
The extension of the implementation periods is something the law authorizes to ensure the projects are studied upon prior to approval and still provide enough time for implementation. However, the delay is usually incurred by the authorities in sending the reports prior to implementation. It all boils down to routine bureaucracy and lack of experience in managing documents, Abdallah said further.
Instead of resolving the issue, the awarding bodies take legal action against the companies involved to protect their own interests, which is, in Abdallah's words, a clear avoidane of responsibility. This is despite the fact that "awarding companies impose 10% of the contract value as delay fees, even if the implementation is 99% complete," Daily News Egypt concluded.