Engineering Authority tasked with 290 projects in Sinai, says chairman

The Armed Forces Engineering Authority has implemented 134 projects in Sinai worth 24 billion pounds.

The projects are part of efforts to develop the peninsula as directed by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi after the June 30 Revolution, said chairman of the Authority Kamel el Wazir during the inauguration of the East Canal Command to counter terrorism Sunday night.

The Engineering Authority has been tasked with implementing 290 projects at a total cost of 175 billion pounds, Wazir said, noting that work is under way to complete 156 of them at 151 billion pounds.

Here president Sisi stopped Wazir to tell the gathering that other projects worth 100 billion pounds are also on the agenda, noting this is yet another proof that Egypt will never relinquish Sinai.

“We won’t be putting 275 billion pounds into projects for the sake of others,” Sisi said.

Sinai projects should be completed in 2022, Sisi said, stressing this is a matter of national security.

Wazir then said that the fight against terrorism won’t stop the implementation of projects on the peninsula.

He cited projects such as the new Suez Canal, fish farms, the industrial zone in Port Said and the Bardawil international airport.

Work is also under way to establish 10 roads measuring 1,339 kilometers, as well as 81,000 residential units and 2,421 Bedouin houses, Wazir said.

The Engineering Authority is also tasked with building 15 hospitals and health units worth 1.2 billion pounds, he added.

Speaking of schools, Wazir said his Authority received directives to establish and upgrade 53 schools, universities and educational institutes at a total cost of 5.5 billion pounds.

About 5.6 billion pounds have been allocated for two industrial projects: two production lines of the cement factory in Arish and a complex of marble factories in Gafgafa, the chairman of the Engineering Authority added.

He also talked about five land reclamation projects worth a total of 26.1 billion pounds.

The Authority has also been assigned with 54 projects to extend water to the peninsula at a total cost of about 31 billion pounds.

He made it clear that work is over to upgrade the efficiency of electricity grids in the cities of El Tor, Abu Redis, Nuweiba and Dahab. (MENA)