Meeting of the Major Projects Commission
The meeting of the Major Projects Commission, held on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at the Government Palace in the Kasbah under the presidency of Sarra Zaâfrani Zenzri, goes beyond mere administrative monitoring of public projects. It reveals a willingness to change the pace and method of managing structuring projects in Tunisia.
Key Projects
Two projects have particularly caught attention:
- Protection of the Sidi Bou Saïd plateau against landslides
- Rehabilitation of several university establishments in Tunis
A New Approach
What emerges from this meeting is not so much the nature of the projects, but the way they are treated. The government's discourse emphasizes a central point: accelerating execution and reducing deadlines.
Concrete Decisions
This translates into immediate decisions:
- Rapid launch of studies for Sidi Bou Saïd
- Use of a specialized study office
- Integration of several university projects into the category of major public projects
Sidi Bou Saïd: A Project with Multiple Urgencies
The case of Sidi Bou Saïd perfectly illustrates this new approach. The project is not limited to an infrastructure intervention, but combines several dimensions:
- A real environmental risk linked to landslides
- A security issue for residents and property
- A major heritage and tourist value
- High technical complexity (geology, hydrology, soil stability)
What is changing here is the official recognition of this complexity and the decision to mobilize multidisciplinary expertise from the start. The project thus becomes a test of the state's ability to manage situations that are both urgent and technically sensitive.
Universities: Another Construction Site
In parallel, several university rehabilitation projects have been integrated into national priorities, including:
- The Faculty of Sciences of Tunis
- The National Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology (INSAT)
- The Faculty of Medicine
Here, the challenge is different: it is not about politically visible projects in the short term, but about a fundamental infrastructure catch-up.
