(AFP PHOTO/Brendan SMIALOWSKI)
The Alexandria Port Authority is working on building the largest port in Egypt and the Middle East, according to General Khaled Soliman, Head of the Central Administration of Movement at the Alexandria Port.
The long-term plan would last until 2027 and will see an investment cost of EGP 120bn. According to Soliman, it includes a logistic industrial area, in addition to another commercial area. He explained that the plan targets three blueprints for the port, including a multi-storey garage, a shopping mall that would create around 4,000 job opportunities, in addition to a passenger station.
Alexandria Port has completed the operations of 27 bridges, with total cost of EGP 60m. Soliman added that the port has started to develop a new axis from gate 54 at the port, in the area of Wardeyan. This will be developed alongside another development, which will be worked on in the future in the area of Dekhela, linking the port to the coastal axis and to ease the traffic in Alexandria.
A toll would be placed on traffic for those using the axes to guarantee continuous maintenance. Moreover, surveillance cameras, speed radars, and a load scale will be installed.
Daily News Egypt previously reported that the Alexandria Port Authority executed 91% of its investment plan for the current fiscal year by the beginning of the June.
The port targets EGP 460m, according to a previous statement by Admiral Abd Elkader Darwish, the chairman of the port.
“There are 10 tips to develop a system of maritime transport that is able to keep pace with the development process and support the Egyptian commercial fleet, as well as rehabilitate it through building and repairing the ships,” according to the former head of Red Sea Port Authority, Hassan El-Fallah.
El-Fallah announced that Egypt, as a country that has an exports and imports volume, does not own more than 15 ships. The government is seriously looking into rectifying this.
He also demanded the rebuilding of the legislative system and the cancellation of similar and intersected laws, for their negative impact on a number of large investment projects. In addition, he called for developing the system of ports by retaining the state’s ownership without privatisation.
“It is necessary to link the ports’ work to international standards and comprehensive technological and electronic systems for the work of customs,” El-Fallah said.
He added that it is necessary to reconsider registering the ships at the Notary Authority, which receives huge amounts of money, though the ships are being registered in the Egyptian Authority for Maritime Safety.
