CAIRO, Nov 13 (Aswat Masriya) – Egypt's interior ministry cancelled a previous decision to build al-Obour central prison in the Qalyubia Security Directorate, the official state gazette said on Sunday.  

The interior ministry didn't reveal the reasons behind their cancellation decision.

A report released by the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) in September said that resolution No.2628 of 2016 to establish the prison in the Obour Industrial Area has caused controversy among the area's residents.

The ANHRI report revealed that one of the reasons behind the residents' opposition was that the size of the prison was expected to be "enormous" to the extent that it could accommodate more than 10,000 prisoners.

Al-Obour prison was among 19 new prisons that were given approval for construction since January 2011, increasing the number of prisons in Egypt from 43 to 62.

Out of the 19 new prisons, 16 were approved during the reign of Adli Mansour and Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, two under the rule of Mohamed Mursi and one during the transitional period led by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, according to ANHRI.