Egyptians’ Comfort is Not His Goal, So Why Has Al-Sisi Spent Billions on ‘Roads and Bridges’?

What did the president of the Egyptian regime, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, mean when he launched his famous sentence, "I will make a network of roads that hold Egypt like this”, pointing his fist at a sign of strength and cohesion?

The French philosopher Michel Foucault answered this question in his book "Observation and Punishment", in which he founded the concept of power as "a strategy that is not due to possession, but to tricks, manoeuvres, measures, techniques and tactics".

Everything in Sisi's projects revolves around the power represented in the person of the general who holds the power with an iron hand, services and projects, comes in the context of measures and tactics to protect the authoritarian system and consolidate its centrality. 

Many questions arise about the usefulness of those bridges that are flooding the capital, costing the state huge budgets in the face of economic suffering and successive crises that have prompted the government to obtain loans and foreign assistance.

Spending Billions

Figures show that the amount of money spent on new road projects since Abdel Fattah al-Sisi took power in Egypt in June 2014 amounted to about 305 billion pounds, with the road network acquiring 175 billion pounds, with a total length of 7,000 km, completed 4.5 thousand km.

Sisi's governments have established more than 600 bridges and about 21 new axis roads at an estimated cost of 85 billion pounds ($5.3 billion), according to the official al-Akhbar newspaper.

According to the newspaper, 21 axis and bridges were built on the Nile at a cost of 30 billion pounds, and 5,000 km of old road network worth 15 billion pounds was developed, maintained and upgraded.

In August 2020, the Minister of Transport and Communications said at the opening of some projects that the total cost could exceed EGP 1.1 trillion by 2024, including roads, railways, shipping and ports.

According to the minister, the cost included 377 billion pounds for roads and bridges, 142 billion for railways, 512 billion for tunnels and electric traction, 49.5 billion for shipping, 14.6 billion for land and dry ports, and 2 billion for river transport.

According to the minister, the cost included 377 billion pounds for roads and bridges, 142 billion for railways, 512 billion for tunnels and electric traction, 49.5 billion for shipping, 14.6 billion for land and dry ports, and 2 billion for river transport.

 

Military Planning

"Any expert in national planning in general, and transport planning in particular, often concludes that this on the ground in Egypt is not an urban scheme, but a military plan," said Safieddine Hamed, a professor of Egyptian strategic planning.

Hamed stressed that what is going on is "a waste of Egyptian financial and human resources, and the loss of effort and building materials in space, time and wrong goal," adding: "But this is the will of those who occupy Egypt and unfortunately possess the will of its people."

Sisi's obsession with establishing bridges is specifically concentrated within the reins of Greater Cairo (Cairo, Giza and Qalyubia), particularly the central and vital sites there, where the city's historical monuments are sacrificed, as he did by demolishing archaeological tombs in eastern Cairo, dating back to the Mamluk period, to create the “paradise” axis to connect east and west Cairo.

Most of the bridges and roads are located in Giza governorate, close to Giza Square in the heart of the city, as well as near Cairo University, which witnessed the beginning of the January 25, 2011 revolution, and participated in major demonstrations and marches in protest against the military coup on July 3, 2013.

"Densely populated cities and slums are undoubtedly difficult to control in the event of revolutions or uprisings against regimes, unlike new cities, based on large and open spaces, and a clear road network that facilitates the movement of battalions and armored vehicles in a short time," Ahmed Mawlana, an Egyptian researcher specializing in security affairs, told al-Estiklal.

"The Egyptian regime's projects to establish bridges in the heart of the Egyptian capital continue to be based on security plans to control against popular revolutions and donations, as circular roads, axis and bridges help to move troops and reach points of engagement as quickly as possible," Mawlana said.

"Sisi has adopted a range of strategies as means to strengthen control over road networks and city planning, moving security institutions away from the center of the capital to new cities," he said.

He also moved the National Security Service (State Security) to the fifth assembly area next to the police academy, as well as the interior ministry building and a number of security positions, so they must be ready to quickly enter anywhere in Cairo in case of emergency, Mawlana said. 

"Tyrannical regimes when they launch some development projects, such as road, electricity and water networks, are not aimed at serving the citizen, but at centralizing power and further subjugating citizens."

"For example, if a city or area gets out of control, the authorities cut off those services until they comply and are easily subdued again, so the army in Egypt has penetrated government service institutions, dominated water and energy projects, as well as road and bridge networks throughout the country," he said.

Military Barracks 

"The centrality of the Egyptian state, and the stability of its bureaucratic system in the heart of the capital, was a double-edged sword with the regimes, where it contributed to increasing the control of the ruler over many decades, and the difficulty of overthrowing the regime if a major revolution erupts in other cities, it is enough to control Cairo alone, which includes other institutions," said Egyptian political researcher Mohamed Maher. 

"On August 16, 2013, two days after the break-up of Rabaa, demonstrations broke out in other provinces, some of which went out of control, such as Beni Suef and Ismailia, but Cairo remained under the control of the security services, making the process of change difficult," Maher told al-Estiqlal.

"On the contrary, in the January 25th revolution, demonstrators settled in the heart of Tahrir Square, which included the Cabinet, the Interior Ministry, parliament, and the Tahrir Complex, as well as Maspero (radio and television building), to disrupt state institutions, and then bring down the regime."

"The Sisi regime planned to overcome this dilemma, creating new cities and molding that centrality outside Cairo, in the administrative capital, to which all institutions will be transferred," he said.

According to Maher, Cairo "will be transformed into a barracks, adapted to be easy and tight for the army and security forces, special units, the establishment of a transportation network, roads and bridges that completely facilitate the process of control, and make the movement of troops smooth, in a few minutes a military contingent can be in the center of the city, and can deal with any demonstration before it worsens."

"This is the most accurate interpretation and analysis of the obsession with creating so many bridges, and the government itself does not declare its purpose, the studies it has relied on or the feasibility behind it, as many of the world's busiest cities in Cairo do not have so many bridges," Maher said.

"The replanning and development of cities does not depend on such a process, especially since Egypt lacks education, health, proper infrastructure, and deteriorating economic and social conditions."

"Which is the most important thing to build a bridge or to establish a hospital? "Cairo is now hostage to a security system that writes a new history by erasing its features and tarnishing its image, and future generations will receive the spectre of an ancient city, corrupted by the military."