Egypt has spent LE180B on Sinai development in 6 yrs, peninsula awaits bright future

CAIRO - 5 October 2020: The state has spent around L.E.180 billion on the development of Sinai over six years, head of the Central Agency for Reconstruction told the Egyptian T.V. Monday.

 

Ahead of the 6 October war anniverssary, which marks Egypt's military action to restore the Sinai Peninsula from a six-year Israeli occupation, head of the agency Mahmoud Nassar said that Sinai did not witness such efforts for decades. 

 

The Central Agency for Reconstruction alone has contributed L.E. 18 billion from, making up 10 percent of the mentioned figure from one state institution.

 

The agency has contributed to 263 projects in Sinai at L.E.13 billion investments in all fields. 

 

He highlighted the newly opened tunnels connecting mainland Egypt to Sinai to better attract investments in the peninsula and the Suez Canal Economic Zone.

 

In April, Ahmed Hamdy 2 tunnel was inaugurated to connect Suez to South Sinai. Ahmed Hamdy 1 tunnel in the same city was opened in 1981, and is also used to cross from Cairo to South Sinai, but it was usually overcrowded, prolonging the movement of trucks and large euipment into Sinai.

 

Two other tunnels in Ismailia were inaugurated in May 2019; they connect eastern Ismailia with western Ismailia in 15-20-minute trip by car at 60 kilometers per hours. Western Ismailia has land borders with Central Sinai, and the tunnels are expected to take Sinai to far better economic and social horizons.

 

In the Mediterranean city of Port Said, Arab Contractors and Orascom built two tunnels by November 2019. They shorten the travel time crossing the Suez Canal to 10-20 minutes, instead of waiting for a turn on ferries for days. 

 

Moreover, five bridges have been constructed above the Suez Canal, crossing over to Sinai to facilitate the transportation of goods between the cities east west of the canal.

 

Suez, Ismailia and Port Said are the three cities overlooking the Suez Canal that were mainly given life by the waterway, and are split in half by the it. They share borders with Egypt's Delta, as well as the Sinai Peninsula.

 

The many tunnels and bridges will breathe life into the once somewhat isolated peninsula, as the transportation of goods and people is now much easier, promising a bright future for the 60,000 square kilometer area.