New Red Sea committee takes up cases local councils cannot settle

A new Red Sea Governorate committee has held its first meeting and begun reviewing cases that city councils on the coast have not been able to settle on their own.

The committee was formed by Governor Walid El-Barqi's decree 998 of 2026 and is chaired by the governorate's secretary-general, Hassan Mawafy. It handles files where the bodies involved disagree, matters referred to it by the governor or the secretary-general, questions of special importance or large financial impact, and cases where the rules need a single, consistent reading.

Mawafy said the committee reviews reports and documents and issues recommendations, without taking over the executive, technical, financial or legal powers of the departments responsible. The first session went through cases sent in from Marsa Alam, El Quseir, Ras Ghareb and Safaga, with the governorate's legal counsel and the local directors of legal affairs, state property and urban planning taking part.

Separately, Mawafy told local units across the governorate to make residents aware of the deadline of 31 December 2026 for completing relinquishment procedures, and to ease the steps for applicants within the law. The account does not say which files that deadline covers.