The transportation minister requested access to the complete file on a project to build a bridge between Egypt and Saudi Arabia Monday, inquiring about the reason the project was halted, its location and the building costs.
Galal al-Saeed's request follows an information request on the project submitted by People's Assembly Speaker Saad al-Katatny.
An official Transportation Ministry source said Saudi Arabia had "rejected the implementation of the project for security reasons." The source said Saudi Arabia had donated two ferries in 2006 to Egypt when the topic was reopened after the Salam ferry disaster, in which 1,033 Egyptian passengers died coming from the Saudi port of Daba.
Initial studies for the project, which was announced in 1988, showed that the massive land-sea bridge would cross the Tiran Strait at the entrance of the Gulf of Aqaba in Egypt through the Ras Hamid area in Tabuk in northern Saudi Arabia.
The 50-km bridge would allow travelers to travel between the two countries in a period of 20 minutes.
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
