Egypt revives dream of new desert capital
CAiRO: In Egypt’s eastern desert, roads are being carved across vast expanses of sand where the government is building a new administrative capital, a long-cherished project that has failed in the past.
The city will be complete with luxury hotels, upscale residential districts, a modern airport and a 345m tower, touted as Africa’s tallest.
The work is being carried out about 45km, between roads connecting the metropolis to the canal city of Suez and the Red Sea resort town of Ain Sokhna.
Workers are building a district to house a new presidential palace, parliament, 32 ministries and foreign embassies.
“I work more than 12 hours a day on this useless construction site,” complained one labourer, a scarf wrapped around his head to protect him from the sun.
The project, seen as expensive and not a priority for Egyptians, has been hard to sell, especially given past failures.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in 2015 announced the project to build a new capital, expected to cost some US$45bil (RM180bil) and to be completed by 2022, according to the authorities.
The cost has angered many in a country with a crisis-hit economy.
The first phase of construction was officially launched in October, with the new capital aiming to expand to 170 sq km and house over six million people.
For the authorities, the project is a necessity due to Cairo’s gradual decay and congestion.
With its 18 million inhabitants and constant traffic gridlock, Greater Cairo is expected to see its population bulge to 40 million by 2050, according to official figures.
“We have a dream,” said Khaled el-Husseiny, contracted by the authorities to present the project to journalists.
He said Egypt aspires to have a capital in the gleaming image of Abu Dhabi, the oil-rich capital of the United Arab Emirates.
The ministry of defence and the ministry of housing manage the project, including its funding, Husseiny said.
Far from meeting the real needs of Cairo residents, the new capital can largely be seen as political propaganda, said Ahmed Zaazaa, an urban architect and planner at 10 Tooba.
“Since Nasser, under each gov- ernment there has been the idea of a new city which is supposed to represent hope, future and modernity,” he said.
But according to the authorities, the latest project is different.
“It will be a smart city using modern technologies for all services on site,” said General Ahmed Zaki Abdin, head of the Administrative Capital for Urban Development which is managing the project. —