Egypt Moves New Capital City From December

Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —

Egypt will begin the process of relocating government offices to new administrative capital starting next December.

The administrative capital is located 45 kilometers east of Cairo City.

Egypt’s presidential spokesman said the process of moving the capital would be accompanied by a probationary period of six months.

“President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi directed government ranks to begin relocation to government districts in the New Administrative Capital from December for a probationary period of six months,” the president’s office was quoted as saying. Reuters.

Egypt says the new capital is designed as a high-tech “smart city” that can accommodate 6.5 million residents and reduce congestion in the capital Cairo.

The city will include a government district, a business district, a large park, and a diplomatic district.

The construction of a new administrative capital cost Egypt up to US$45 billion (Rp 646 trillion). It is the biggest mega-project that al-Sissi has launched since taking office in 2014.

The city is built on an area of ​​170,000 hectares or almost twice the size of Cairo.

Critics have called Egypt’s new capital a futile project. Quoted Associated Press, the reason being that the hundreds of trillions worth of construction costs would be better spent rebuilding a shattered economy and renewing Cairo.

But the government argues that a new capital is needed to absorb Cairo’s rapidly growing population, which will double to 40 million residents by 2050.

The Egyptian president has also claimed a new capital, and other projects ranging from new roads and housing complexes to the expansion of the Suez Canal have attracted investors and created jobs for the country’s more than 100 million people.

Egypt’s new capital will house the offices of the president, cabinet, parliament and ministries.

Development planners promised 21 miles of public parks, an airport, an opera house, a sports complex and 20 skyscrapers, including the tallest in Africa, at 345 meters.

The state-run Al-Ahram daily reported that the government had planned to relocate 52,300 government employees to the new capital by mid-2020. But plans were delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.

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[Gambas:Video CNN]

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