Egyptian Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab inspected Tuesday a land reclamation project west of Qena's governorate Al Marasheda area.

The project aims to reclaim 12,500 feddans, to be irrigated through Al Marasheda water station.

Mahlab's visit to the Upper Egyptian province comes following his visit to Minya governorate where he also followed up work progress in the mega project of developing one million feddans in Egypt.

The prime minister was accompanied by the ministers of local development, housing, irrigation and agriculture.

In statements, Qena Governor Abdelhamid Al Haggan said that land reclamation projects come high on the agenda of the government which encourages investments in desert lands and increase of cultivated areas with the aim of achieving food sufficiency and creating new job opportunities.