The Sinai Development Committee (SDC) has set out its new strategy for the development of the Sinai peninsula. At a meeting on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, the committee decided to form a sub-committee from different ministries and competent bodies to complete a draft law for the development of the region. The sub-committee will also be tasked with establishing a body to supervise the implementation of the development plan. The sub-committee is to complete its task in a month's time. Cabinet spokesman Mohamed Hegazy explained that the SCD has agreed to meet the wishes of the region's population to be offered government employment, confirming that the ministries of manpower, irrigation, tourism, civil aviation, electricity and justice have already allocated a percentage of their job vacancies to Sinai residents. Also, the Ministry of Military Production has prepared a technical training program for 3000 of young people from Sinai. For his part, Interior Minister Mansour Essawy said that no Sinai residents are being held as political prisoners. He said that the ministry is reviewing 285 cases of Sinai Bedouins who were convicted in absentia, and is considering the release of those who have already served half their sentences. The meeting also resulted in the decision to reallocate the land intended for the Dahab airport, using it instead for development projects that will benefit the local population. It also decided to open a branch of the Suez Canal University in Sinai. Translated from the Arabic Edition
