After overthrowing Egypt's first democratically elected president in 2013 and pushing through painful fiscal reforms, Sisi is invested in the infrastructure drive's success. Some of those displaced by new roads are unhappy at losing their homes, others at seeing their neighbourhoods suddenly transformed. Officials present the road building as part of efforts to develop informal areas across Egypt, connecting them to transport networks and basic services. The road building surge – social media posts dub Egypt "the republic of roads and bridges" – has triggered disquiet for other reasons. Bridge and road building near the pyramids, around Cairo's "cities of the dead" where people live among old family tombs, and in the genteel neighbourhood of Heliopolis, has alarmed conservationists.

Source: The Star May 14, 2021 06:00 UTC