CAIRO - The ongoing operation to restore security in Sinai has only been successful because of a governmental decision to launch a comprehensive development project in the long-neglected Peninsula. Any military operation, no matter how big, will not be able to settle the problems in Sinai if its citizens do not co-operate. The Government has now announced the creation of the Supreme Authority for Sinai Development, as well as many procedures to upgrade the standard of living for the people of Sinai. This has convinced them that they will finally enjoy all their rights as Egyptian citizens and that they might even be the first to reap the fruits of the recent revolution. One of the most important decisions recently taken by the Government is the issuing of a law allowing Sinai residents to own their own agricultural land and land for construction. The people of Sinai would love a giant industrial zone to be created in central Sinai, to exploit the Peninsula's huge mineral wealth and create thousands of jobs for unemployed youngsters. They even like the idea of creating a third Sinai governorate in the centre of the Peninsula. In addition to the creation of a governmental university there, Sinai needs more schools, especially for girls, in order to defeat illiteracy among the younger generation. There is also a useful project for developing Port el-Arish, serving different industries and exporting Egyptian products worldwide. What we really need is a clear, comprehensive plan for developing Sinai and a deadline for its enforcement. This would be the ideal way to restore Sinai to its motherland and protect it against some foreign plot to destabilise Egypt.
