Chapter Four Public Works Government Buildings (57) The total amount spent on the construction of government buildings reached £151,000. Of these buildings, some are nearing completion, while others will take several years to finish.

The government has decided not to build new buildings in a year unless it can expedite the completion of existing ones. This gives the department responsible for designs and cost estimations a year to avoid the delays that occurred in previous years after the approval of budgets. It is hoped that this method will lead to a reduction in the large sums of money that remain unspent annually in the department's accounts. It has also been proposed to allocate a specific annual sum for building repairs. The Director-General believes that if an annual sum of £20,000 is allocated to the Buildings Department, it is all the department can spend efficiently, unless its permanent staff is significantly increased.

In the year 1905, the government spent £110,000 on the repair of public buildings. This amount was distributed among its buildings in every province and every city in the Egyptian countryside. Although the amount may seem large, it is actually insufficient to maintain all public buildings, as a large number of them are old and in a state of disrepair, requiring constant and costly repairs. The only viable solution is to replace these old buildings with new ones that meet engineering and construction standards, but this would require a lot of money and a long time.

Cairo City In the year 1905, £40,000 was spent on improving the city of Cairo. Among the works carried out were the paving of streets in the national quarters with asphalt, the construction of sidewalks on the Nile bank, the creation of new streets, and the installation of fountains. The area of streets constructed during the year reached 100,000 square meters, at a cost of £14,000.