Egyptians are complaining of fees imposed by the government on the use of a road bridge that links the Suez Canal and the Sinai Peninsula.
According to press reports, the residents of the area celebrated last year's inauguration of the first road bridge to link between the peninsula and the mainland. The Mubarak Peace Bridge, the lifetime dream of many residents in the area, was expected to speed up development projects in Sinai and replace the ageing crowded ferries that people had to use to cross the canal before the bridge's construction. ”But the dream turned into a nightmare after the government imposed high tolls on those using the bridge.”
Residents told Al-Akhbar newspaper that the fees were nominal, but added burdens to drivers and companies that use the bridge several times a day. "After the bridge was opened, the authority in charge of running it imposed a LE12.5 on every lorry using the bridge. Most lorry drivers protested and stopped using it, so the authority reduced the toll to LE 8.5," said Ahmed Hassan Abdel Sallam, a lorry driver. "But this fee is still very high, especially as lorry drivers pay other fees when using the Cairo-Ismailia road. A driver making a round-trip from Cairo to Sinai must pay LE51," he said.
But Mohammed Rahil, an MP representing the city of Qantara, said the tolls are used to pay for the maintenance of the bridge. "We contacted the Minister of Transportation to solve this problem and he agreed to issue monthly passes for residents of Ismailia and Sinai. Each pass costs only LE75 and I believe that is affordable for everyone," Rahil said. (Albawaba.com)
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