JEDDAH, 3 June 2006 — A senior Egyptian official yesterday emphasized the significance of the proposed $3-billion Saudi-Egyptian Causeway project, saying it would help link the African and Asian continents and facilitate the traffic of pilgrims and workers to the Kingdom.
Fouad Abdul Aziz Khaleel, adviser to the Egyptian transport minister and chairman of the Arab Roads Administration, said the project could be carried out within three years with the support of specialized international companies without incurring any expenditure for Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Khaleel expressed his hope that companies involved in the project, developing the causeway on a build-operate-transfer basis, could recuperate their investment within a decade from its completion date. He did not say whether the two countries had reached any agreement on implementing the project.
He said the causeway would be constructed between South Sinai in Egypt and Ras Humaid in Saudi Arabia with a length of 23 kilometers and would reduce the transportation time between the two countries to 20 minutes. “It will also lessen the difficulties of workers traveling between the two continents,” Al-Jazirah daily quoted Khaleel as saying.
The ferry tragedy that claimed hundreds of Egyptian and tens of Saudi lives in February revived interest in the causeway project, which has been considered in the past. In a statement soon after the tragedy, Egyptian Transport Minister Muhammad Mansour said the implementation of the causeway project had become essential to avoid marine transport tragedies.
The project was first made public two years ago when the Egyptian transport minister at the time said the two countries were planning to establish a causeway across the Red Sea to facilitate transportation of pilgrims, tourists and cargo. Tabuk Governor Prince Fahd ibn Sultan referred to the project last year when he met Amr Al-Dabbagh, governor of Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority.
Al-Madinah daily quoted Egyptian government sources as saying that Cairo would present the project to Arab and non-Arab investors in order to implement it quickly. Between 50,000 to 70,000 Egyptians go on the annual pilgrimage to Makkah and an estimated 1.2 million Egyptians work in the Arabian Peninsula, mainly as construction workers.
“This project never really left the drawing board, but it is totally feasible. The bridge wouldn’t be too long and the relatively shallow sea in that area allows for such construction,” said Ibrahim Kamel, an Egyptian architect and businessman.
