In Al-Tor, for instance, the headquarters of the General Education Authority were inaugurated. Built at a cost of one million pounds, the Authority benefits, among other things, from an Internet connection to the central network in Cairo. The governor also inaugurated a primary school, two secondary schools, a cooperative, and a post office. This year's festivities witnessed the official opening of such environmentally-friendly projects as the Turquoise Gardens, a forest of 40,000 trees irrigated by recycled sanitary drainage water. In a buzz of activity, a water desalination station as well as an electric power plant to supply the Sharm Al-Sheikh coast area were opened.
Plans are underway for a new ring road to facilitate movement in the southern part of the peninsula.
Our next stop was Dahab, 100km south of Sharm Al-Sheikh. Tourists come here for the beaches, water sports, wildlife, and the scuba diving. In the dreamscape that many vacationers inhabit, however, it is often easy to forget that Sinai is also made up of perennially inhabited areas, with perennial problems. One of Dahab's most pressing tasks, for instance, is cleaning up the city proper, as opposed to the holiday villages and camps. Head of the City Council Mohamed Soliman told us a contract has been signed with a cleaning company, but individual and NGO initiatives will continue to form the backbone of efforts to keep the city garbage-free.