President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi inaugurated on Wednesday the new headquarters of the Interior Ministry in the Fifth Settlement, New Cairo.
The new headquarters is located within the walls of the Police Academy.
The Interior Ministry has completed the final procedures for the transfer of all the departments and administrative offices from downtown Cairo to the new headquarters, which was built on over 200,000 square meters, an Interior Ministry source said. All administration from the ministry's old headquarters in downtown Cairo will be transferred to the new building.
The transfer of the Interior Ministry headquarters was first suggested following the January 25 revolution, 2011 under Interior Minister Mansour al-Essawy, due to repeated clashes and protests around the ministry that caused traffic congestion in downtown Cairo, the source added.
The transfer process started three months ago, around the time of the fifth anniversary of the January 25 revolution, according to the same source.
In his inauguration speech on Wednesday, Sisi called for measured calculations of the amount of police to be assigned to securing the new headquarters. The proposed 1,000 policemen, he said, would not be an efficient use of resources, as it would burn up LE12 million per year when modern security methods could be used to substitute men.
"We are calculating everything," he added, stressing the need to take into account the possibility of using technology to secure the new building.
The interior minister responded to Sisi's comments saying that the president's instructions would be implemented.
Sisi concluded his speech by offering his warm congratulations for the building's opening.
New Cairo is a quiet, upscale suburban area and starkly contrasted with downtown Cairo, where Tahrir Square and other vital squares near the old ministry building have witnessed mass protests and clashes between citizens and police over the past five years.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
