The Transport Ministry is moving to expand road and bridge projects in the next fiscal year, despite Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk saying last week that the government would slow new projects to rein in spending because of the regional economic crisis caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran.
A member of the General Authority for Roads, Bridges and Land Transport (GARBLT) board told Al Manassa that the authority plans to carry out projects worth 32 billion Egyptian pounds ($615 million), up from 25 billion pounds ($480 million) in the current fiscal year.
The source, who asked not to be named, said the authority is placing growing emphasis on regional road projects, especially those linked to African countries, noting that 50% of investments are being directed to those projects under “high-level directives” to support continental connectivity.
He said the next fiscal year’s plan includes accelerating work on the Port Said-Salloum international coastal highway, which stretches 800 kilometers, along with completing the first phase of the East Oweinat-Kufra road, which runs 100 kilometers, and upgrading the Red Sea coastal road extending from Suez to the southern border over 1,080 kilometers.
He added that the rest of the investments would go to domestic projects that directly affect citizens’ lives, with a focus on completing them quickly, foremost among them the third phase of Cairo’s ring road, which stretches 20 kilometers. Construction will also begin in parallel on several stations for the third phase of the bus rapid transit system.
He also pointed to efforts to complete some remaining work on 13 Nile crossings, overpasses, and 11 road projects linking Egypt’s governorates.
GARBLT is a public service body established in 1964. The Finance Ministry allocates annual investment funds to the authority for infrastructure projects, especially those connecting governorates as part of an integrated transport system.
Over the past decade, the transport sector has seen major projects, including the construction of 1,000 overpasses and tunnels, alongside the national roads project, which included 7,000 kilometers of new roads.
But the aggressive expansion of infrastructure projects has faced broad criticism for coming at the expense of sectors more vital to people’s daily lives, such as education and health care.
