More than 80,000 feddans of looted state lands have been restored by a committee formed by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, Presidential adviser for national projects Ibrahim Mahlab said on Monday.

The committee briefs the Egyptian people from time to time on its efforts to restore the state lands, Mahlab told a conference on the construction engineering at Alexandria University.

He attributed the spread of the looting of state lands to loopholes which allow citizens to cultivate lands in return for legalizing their status later.

Some lands have been already cultivated and had their status legalized, but some people exploited the law to possess the lands without legalizing them, he pointed out.

Source: MENA