An Egyptian parliamentarian aroused widespread ridicule by offering his congratulations to the people of his district on the imminent of opening a new prison with a capacity of 1,200 prisoners.

A member of the National Defence and Security Committee in Parliament, Major General Mamdouh Moqled, stated that the prison opening in Sohag Governorate (south) would provide a service to the residents of the area in bringing their relatives from the jails of Assiut and Qena (south). “We inspected (Saturday) the prison work that began in 2016 and it is about to end. It is scheduled to open during the next Police Day, as nothing remains but paving floors and painting works for walls and sidewalks,” Moqled said, via Facebook. He added, “We have finished enhancing the executing company’s spending, which exceeded EGP 80 million [$5 million], the last of which was building fences at a height of 12 metres, and a value of EP 16 million [$1 million].”

The deputy added, “The prison is built on an area of ​​15,100 square metres, and accommodates about 1,200 prisoners, and includes workshops for industries and education, a hospital with a capacity of 40 beds, places for visits, shops, a kitchen and a bakery. Moqled added: “With God’s help, we have many projects that we had the upper hand in approving and completing.” Moqled previously held the position of Director of Security for Minya Governorate, in the south of the country.

The number of prisons established by the regime of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi since the military coup in mid-2013 is 25, which raises the number of prisons in the country to 67.