CAIRO -

After nearly a month of public and media appeals, Egyptian Transport Minister Kamel al-Wazir finally announced the formation of a committee to examine the problems plaguing the international coastal road under the direction of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

A number of citizens complained of problems in the design of the international coastal road, which caused random control of parts of the road, especially heavy transport vehicles, and demanded a speedy solution to these problems, especially with the start of the summer vacation season, in which the road is crowded with pioneers in the North Coast region.

Despite the great boom that Egypt has witnessed during the past years in road projects, some of these roads have witnessed a number of negatives, due to the appearance of defects in them, both in terms of design or implementation, in addition to the fact that traffic on them has become in return for money, which imposes additional burdens on Egyptians.

To the Ministry of Interior and the Traffic Department.. Save people from themselves and from the mistake of others.. May God protect pic.twitter.com/P2nC0WAr7I

— Shady Eisa (@ShadyEisa) June 12, 2022

poor planning

Throughout the past month, warnings of the international road and the randomness in which transport vehicles use it in the complete absence of the traffic police have spread on the communication sites.

Tweeters listed the disadvantages of the new road, the most important of which are the complications with regard to bridges and curves to turn backwards, poor lighting at the exits and the lack of sufficient signs.

On the other hand, some praised the high quality of the road and its good design, blaming the behavior of drivers, especially truck drivers who drive in opposite directions.

The controversy over the road did not stop at the communication sites, as it moved to Parliament, and the Deputy of the Human Rights Committee in the House of Representatives, Ayman Abul-Ela, presented an urgent statement to the Prime Minister and Minister of Transport, regarding what he called “poor planning that accompanied the road development work, and what might result from it.” of catastrophes and accidents.

Abul-Ela said, in his statement, that the development work was carried out according to a developed global system, but it was not in line with the nature of the road, and the tourist villages that spread around it, which would result in heavy traffic, especially during holidays and vacations, adding, "We will be facing almost disasters." daily, and some will have to go in the opposite direction."

The new coast road,


may God protect the vacationers this year pic.twitter.com/9HolVJGUtY

— Sally Mo (@SallyMo24736566) June 26, 2022

The new coast road looks terrifying, the coast is basically a lot of accidents, so I don't ask for heartache and anxiety, I hope we see a solution, not like that seriously

— Nouran diaa elsayed 🇪🇬💉💉 (@Nourandiaa89) June 26, 2022

Maine the great designer who made a cold on the north lane!

(New Coast Road) pic.twitter.com/CaKmOiNlwG

— Ayman El-Attar (@aymanlattar) June 20, 2022

The coastal road is catastrophic and absurd, and a lot of people will die in it.. It is the government that made this calamity, where did you do it?

— Helly El Saadani (@hellyelsaadani) June 24, 2022

The new coast road is being used to facilitate things and stop the bleeding of accidents.


But unfortunately it is for people now that it is terror in itself. You are terrified of disorientation, irregularities, and long distances if you make any mistake.


I know people who came back to Cairo from the absurdities they were exposed to in this way.


Shafak solution O government.

pic.twitter.com/468m6zHB4C

— nassra borham (@nassraborham) June 19, 2022

The truth is the coastal road has remained global. I am still contagious to it at once and far from all opinions. The social media that caused the crisis, the drivers of transport and those who go in the opposite direction, but the new road and the collected trays are impressive.

— Ahmed Abd Elrahman (@Ahmedel96116651) June 25, 2022

Insisting on the same mistakes...

The new North Coast Road is very, very new. Exit signs for the branch are installed directly on the exit, which is supposed to be at least 100 before the exit….


* The insistence on using the LED lighting provided with the knowledge of its poor lighting and the speed of its damage is attested by all the main roads.. 1

— ZaZa (@YAckad) June 18, 2022

Media Claims and Presidential Response

With the government's continued disregard for criticism of the road, the Egyptian media entered the crisis line, and broadcaster Ahmed Moussa announced that he had received several videos from citizens traveling on the international coastal road, which revealed the existence of a major problem on the road, indicating that it only displays people's fears.

During his presentation of his program "On My Responsibility" on "Echo of the Country" channel, last Sunday, Moussa added that he is waiting for an official to come out to reveal the idea of ​​designing the road and the problems that need to be fixed.

Broadcaster Amr Adib called on officials to respond to people's fears of the road, and its calls that continued throughout the past month, especially since the situation in Egypt does not tolerate more criticism.

Adeeb demanded, during the presentation of his program "The Story" on "MBC Egypt", on Sunday, to issue a statement that includes an illustration and reveal the details about this road, stressing that the statement must clearly show the negative aspects of the road, especially in the presence of all this talk about Dangerous road to life.

Before the program's episode ended, Adeeb quoted Transport Minister Kamel al-Wazir that Sisi had directed the formation of a committee that conducted an inspection of the problems on the road, and they are being dealt with immediately.

unprecedented boom

In recent years, Egypt has witnessed a major boom in the level of road projects, which has brought about a qualitative leap in the field of construction and development of the road network to reach the level of road quality to international standards, according to what the Egyptian government says.

And last year, Transport Minister Kamel Al-Wazir announced that the development witnessed by the roads and bridges sector was reflected in Egypt's global ranking in the road quality index during the period 2014-2019, as Egypt advanced 90 places to reach the 28th place in 2019, compared to the 118th place in 2014, according to reports. global competitiveness.

According to Egyptian newspapers, the Ministry of Transport has developed a plan to implement road and bridge projects until 2024, with a total of 1,769 projects at a cost of 464 billion pounds (about 25 billion dollars), and until the middle of this year, 1052 projects have been completed with a total cost of 254.3 billion pounds (about 13 billion dollars). ), (the dollar = 18.79 pounds).

Among the most important road projects implemented by the state are the development of the Upper Egypt-Red Sea road (Sohag-Safaga) with a length of 180 km and a cost of one billion pounds, the development of the Wadi El-Natrun- El Alamein road with a length of 135 km, the construction of the Shubra-Banha Al-Hur road with a length of 40 km, and the construction of the northern arch of the road The regional ring is 90 km long, as well as the construction of the Galala Road with a length of 82 km, and the development of the Tunnel - Sharm El Sheikh road with a length of 350 km.

Tree massacre

The coastal road crisis is not the only crisis raised by the new roads in Egypt. The road network has caused several crises, most notably the removal of trees in several neighborhoods, such as Heliopolis and Nasr City, east of Cairo, passing through the ancient neighborhood of Maadi, and the removal of the entire Arab Al-Mohammadi Park in downtown Cairo.

The residents of Maadi neighborhood, south of Cairo, the most wooded neighborhood in Cairo, objected to the government’s decision to remove the agricultural nurseries and infiltrate the neighborhood to establish a new traffic axis. , tearing the neighborhood in half.

On the other hand, the government said that the hub is necessary to facilitate traffic, and that it will preserve perennial trees and rare plant nurseries by moving them elsewhere.

Last year, the residents of the Heliopolis area objected to carving out large green areas from the neighborhood, such as the streets of Heliopolis, the Roxy area, and the Maryland Park, which has long been a symbol of the aesthetic area.

Huge amounts of trees were also removed from the historic Montazah Park in the governorate of Alexandria in the north, which angered many Egyptians, as the region was characterized by the breathtaking nature and rare trees that ended the past memories of this park that is more than 100 years old.

# Maadi_ rejects_


the axis This is the Maadi who want to make an axis in it pic.twitter.com/mOLrflMUTp

— Mohamed Sekaly (@mohamed_sekaly) July 14, 2021

Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq Street..


The difference between the two pictures is two months.. # Heliopolis pic.twitter.com/2YcofwNVFQ

— Hala (@hala_helal) November 22, 2019

This is Suleiman Abaza Street in Mohandessin.

The massacre of trees continues 😢


God suffices us and He is the best agent.. pic.twitter.com/s1P9SUdnyH

- Maha Abu Al-Layl ☕️ (@MAboelliel) February 29, 2020

The massacre of trees in Egypt, Imad El-Din Street, Nasr City, and other places in our beloved Egypt were completely destroyed by cutting down trees and maiming, other than demolishing the homes of the citizen.

By what right does it happen?

Leave Egypt tired # Leave_ya_Sisi pic.twitter.com/U1rEj24qnT

— Nabila (@Nabila78575629) March 18, 2022

Maryland only?


Look what happened in the park.

👇


They cut down a tree that is more than 200 years old.


beauty enemies.

pic.twitter.com/nummt63HR3

— MOHAMED💪ABDELRAHMAN👈 (@mohamed041979) October 1, 2021

Heritage demolition

The road network provoked another crisis by encroaching on historical areas in the Egyptian capital, most notably the historic Mamluk cemetery area, part of which was demolished to create a traffic axis called the "Paradise Axis".

Although the government confirmed that it had not removed any cemetery registered in Egyptian antiquities, and that the demolition process affected private non-historic cemeteries, a large number of activists objected to the destruction of the oldest cemeteries in the world, and specialists said that the demolition affected a number of heritage cemeteries.

Among the most prominent places affected by the demolition are the walls of the tomb of Hassan Pasha Sabri, Prime Minister of Egypt at the time of World War II, the facade of the tomb of Ahmed Pasha Lotfi El-Sayed, the Egyptian philosopher and thinker and one of the founders of the National Party with Mustafa Kamel Pasha, and the cemetery wall of Ahmed Aboud Pasha, one of the pillars of the Egyptian economy in The 20th century and one of the founders of Banque Misr, and the first Egyptian on the board of directors of the Suez Canal International Company.

Also, the tomb of Murad Pasha Mohsen, the head of the royal estate during the reign of King Farouk I, who was named after the famous Murad Street in Giza, was demolished.

The outer wall of the tomb of Nazli Hanim Halim, granddaughter of Muhammad Ali Pasha the Great, was also demolished.

The walls of the tombs of Zaki Muhammad al-Muhandis, who had previously worked as dean of Dar al-Uloom, and the father of artist Fouad al-Muhandis and radio station Safia al-Muhandis, were demolished.

On the other hand, the head of the Islamic, Coptic and Jewish Antiquities Sector, Osama Talaat, confirmed that "no antiquities have been demolished, and that the tombs mentioned in the circulating photos are buildings that are not registered as Islamic or Coptic antiquities," noting that they are "modern cemeteries for individuals."

Talaat explained that despite the fact that tombs are not registered as antiquities, the Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities "directed the formation of a scientific-technical committee to examine the evidence and stones that include decorative or inscription inscriptions, to be studied and explored the possibility of displaying part of them in some museums, as part of the heritage of Distinguished Egypt.

The government is demolishing the ancient Mamluk tombs that have been said for hundreds of years!

In order to make an asphalt road called Al-Firdaws Axis


, which country in the world if it had a cemetery for those who were devastated by countries, they would have made them open museums!

pic.twitter.com/aRPqMajAwg

— Assem Elbaradei (@Assem_Elbaradei) July 20, 2020

The government is demolishing parts of the tombs of al-Ghafir in the ancient Qarafa of the Mamluks, in order to replace it with the axis of "Paradise", and the people who have tombs there are very angry :/ pic.twitter.com/xwQeo8ayWP

— 💭 (@Ronnaa56) July 19, 2020

King Salman Axis

Years ago, a wave of ridicule erupted at the appearance of a bridge adjacent to the balconies of residential buildings along the length of the bridge, and it is called the "King Salman Axis", as it is being built in the "Ter'at Al-Zumar" area in the Haram area, west of Cairo.

And the matter came to the British "Economist" magazine, on the bridge, which passes close to residential buildings, and one of its residents told a local newspaper that he could reach it from the balcony of his apartment, and invite passers-by in their cars to stop and drink tea with him.

The Economist said that the construction of roads and bridges was not well planned;

The bridges raise a spectacle of their ugliness, and the King Salman Bridge is not only ridiculed as much as it is a symbol of the government's "incompetence".

While the head of the Central Agency for Reconstruction in Egypt, Mahmoud Nassar, blamed the buildings, which he described as violating the organization’s line, as they encroached on the sanctuary of the road, which caused the “balconies” to approach the bridge, and stressed that the implementation of the bridge is carried out properly, but the construction of the buildings Otherwise, it caused this crisis.

A widespread mockery of the images spread of the King Salman Axis Bridge in Egypt..


What is his story?

pic.twitter.com/Yu3A1XD23V

— AJ+ Arabic (@ajplusarabi) May 12, 2020