Last night’s talk shows took a look ahead to what’s in store for the October parliamentary elections, covered the inauguration of the new Egypt-Japan University, and continued to provide updates on the settlement of building code violations nationwide

How many people will come out to vote in the upcoming parliamentary elections? Al Hayah Al Youm’s Mostafa Sherdy interviewed head of the Republican People's Party, Hazem Omar, who forecast an historic turnout from voters in the upcoming House of Representatives elections, especially with the large numbers of candidates standing — at least 20 candidates in every constituency, and a total of 7k candidates across the country. He said that turnout could range from 36-46% — which doesn’t sound particularly historic, but would handily top the 14% who turned out for last month’s Senate elections (watch, runtime: 33:42).

Madbouly had more to say on illegal construction: Masaa DMC's Ramy Radwan highlighted Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly's speech during the inauguration of the Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology in Borg El Arab, Alexandria. Madbouly reiterated that Egypt has lost 400k feddans of agricultural land due to illegal construction and said that he has to expropriate more agricultural land every week just to provide educational, health and water services for people living in informal settlements. Some 62k feddans of agricultural land have had to be used to provide such services, he said (watch, runtime: 8:16).

Building violation settlements in Daqahliyah: Ala Mas'ouleety's Ahmed Moussa phoned Daqahliyah Governor Ayman Mukhtar, who said that the governorate is now offering 45% discounts on fines for settling building violations. Some 73% of the governorate’s violations have now been settled, yielding some EGP 630 mn, he said (watch, runtime: 4:33).

No garbage on streets by 2024: Masaa DMC's Ramy Radwan phoned Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad, who discussed the government’s efforts to improve waste management. Under the new legislation, informal workers would be offered licenses to work in the waste sector, Fouad said, explaining that garbage collectors earn EGP 2-40 from solid waste collection fees, which are added to electricity bills paid by households and governments. Fouad pointed out that there are several Egyptian and foreign companies interested in investing in waste management, without elaborating. The government has allocated EGP 10 bn to waste management and is aiming to rid our streets of garbage by 2024, she said (watch, runtime: 14:49).

High schools are now book-free: Ala Mas'ouleety's Ahmed Moussa phoned Education Minister Tarek Shawki, who said that high school students will no longer have to use books. Every student now will be equipped with a tablet, and schools will be fitted with Internet and Wi-Fi networks (watch, runtime: 2:34). Shawki noted that the ministry has collaborated with book publishers to develop the new curriculum and added that he plans to talk with the finance minister about additional incentives for the teachers (watch, runtime: 2:00), (watch, runtime: 4:36).

Promising growth in tech: Yahduth Fi Misr’s Sherif Amer phoned Communications Minister Amr Talaat, who said that the number of jobs in the Egyptian tech sector is increasing 20% every year. There are now some 6 mn people working in the sector, he said, which is now valued at around USD 36 bn (watch, runtime: 3:45), (watch, runtime: 3:40).

** Where is Lamees? Are we the only ones who miss the Queen of Night Time Talk?