Egypt is providing EGP 2 billion ($126.5 million) to implement an emergency plan for developing and surfacing roads in governorates to boost the infrastructure, finance minister Mohamed Maait said.

 

According to a statement by the finance ministry, Maait said road surfacing will be made according to the highest technical and quality standards to strengthen infrastructure and connect cities within Egypt’s roads network.

 

The announcement comes as Egypt saw rising deadly road accidents in the past weeks, killing dozens and sparking outrage over the infrastructure works carried out nationwide.

 

Road accidents were up by 17.9 percent in Egypt in the first half of 2019, the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) announced last December.

 

Deadly road accidents take place on a daily basis in Egypt due to poor road safety, badly maintained infrastructure, and loosely enforced traffic regulations.

 

However, Egypt has allocated millions of pounds to developing and expanding road networks in recent years. A comprehensive traffic law to crack down on violators and enhance safety is set to go into effect in 2020.

 

The allocation came during a meeting held with local development minister Mahmoud Shaarawy. Maait said that the local development ministry's budget for fiscal year 2019/2020 was boosted with EGP 1 billion to support the presidential initiative "Decent Life", launched last year, in its first phase, covering 143 villages in 11 governorates.

 

In January 2019, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi ordered authorities to take the necessary measures to implement the initiative to help improve services provided to those most in need, especially in Egypt’s villages.

 

According to CAPMAS, 32.5 percent of Egyptians are living below the poverty line, compared to 27.8 percent in 2015.