ON TUESDAY, President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi inaugurated the Ahmed Hamdi II Tunnel, connecting Sinai to the Nile Delta.

The 11-metre diameter tunnel has two 4,250 metre-long lanes.

Ahmed Hamdi II is expected to increase investment in the peninsula and create job opportunities in Sinai, said Al-Sisi. The tunnel is parallel to Ahmed Hamdi I, inaugurated in 1981 to connect Cairo to South Sinai and named after an engineer killed in the 1973 War.

The inauguration ceremony also encompassed the opening of 35 new roads in Sinai. A further 16 are currently under construction as part of the Sinai Development Project.

During the ceremony, Al-Sisi revealed that a new wastewater treatment plant, dubbed Bahr Al-Baqar, will begin operations within days. The plant will supply Sinai with 5.6 million cubic metres of water daily, helping to cultivate an area of 500,000 feddans.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 23 September, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly