Prime Minister inaugurates Al-Mowasat Tunnel and roundabout in Damascus

Prime Minister Hussein Arnous on Saturday inaugurated the newly constructed Al-Mowasat Tunnel and roundabout near Al-Mowasat Hospital in Mazzeh area, Damascus. The tunnel extends from Al-Rabweh road traffic junction to April 17 traffic junction. It was built in two parts, the first is 88-meter-long under the Children Hospital and the second is 87-meter-long under Al-Mowasat roundabout in addition to other three open parts.

The project is one of the most important government vital construction projects that aims at reducing the traffic jam and solving traffic problems in Damascus, particularly in Al-Mowasat area in Mazzeh.

The 525-meter-long tunnel project, which was implemented by purely Syrian expertise through cooperation between Damascus Governorate and the Military Construction Establishment, was officially opened after construction works have been completed to prove to the world that Syria is recovering following 13 years of war and sanctions imposed on the country and that the Syrians are a living people who never surrenders.

The project took 11 months to be accomplished at a total cost of 70 billion SYP, which of course was not spent only on building the body of the tunnel, but also on infrastructure works and on establishing the biggest water line in Damascus that will supply Marota city and Basilia city projects as well as Darayya and Kafar Souseh areas in Damascus.

In a statement to reporters, Arnous said that the study, the design and the implementation of the project were all achieved by the efforts of national cadres, pointing out that the project is not only a traffic tunnel, but it is a project that aims at reviving the area in general through building the infrastructure that includes communications, electricity and sewage, and at separating sewage from the course of the Barada River.

Minister of Local Administration and Environment Lamia Shakour said that the project is an important traffic hub to remove congestion and make way for the flow of traffic. She noted that the executed works, including removing the distortions, enhancing environmental safety, and providing services to people that raises the level of services in Damascus, thereby reflecting positively on the life the citizen.

For his part, the Governor of Damascus Mohammed Tariq Krishati explained that the project is an achievement for the city of Damascus and that it was accomplished thanks to the combined efforts of everyone, including the managers and the engineers and the workers who did their best day and night to put the tunnel into service, according to the established standards and within a record period of time.

The building of this tunnel also included a cultural side, represented in the several sculpted morals that decorated the walls of the tunnel. These artworks depicted Syria’s great civilization and archeological monuments, including the Umayyad Mosque, the cuneiform writing on an Ugaritic tablet, Damascus Citadel, the Arch of Triumph in Palmyra, Aleppo Citadel, Bab Kiysan, which is one of Damascus old gates, Norias of Hama, the façade of Souk Al-Hamidiya.

Hamda Mustafa