The World - News from July 6, 1989

Despite $71 million in U.S. aid since 1978 for a low-income housing project in Egypt, it was not until this year that families were able to benefit, according to a report by the Agency for International Development. In the report, submitted to Congress, AID Inspector General Herbert L. Beckington complained about U.S. aid operations as a whole in Egypt, which gets $2.3 billion a year. He cited the project near Cairo--still under construction--as an example. When the project began, the cost was to be shared equally, but by March, 1988, the United States had spent $71 million and Egypt $63 million--and not one family had moved in. AID spokesman John Riddle said that since the report was written, 205 families have moved in.