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Al-Ahram Weekly 4 -10 February 1999 Issue No. 415 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 4 -10 February 1999 Issue No. 415
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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At the crossroads
Egypt Region International Book Fair Economy Opinion Culture Features Living Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters
Sir-Sir- Cairo was once called the city of a thousand minarets. Now, perhaps it would be more accurate to call it the city of a thousand tunnels and fly-overs.How to streamline Cairo traffic congestion is a thorny issue, but no problem is insurmountable. Some people think we have to wait till the completion of the underground grid, and the construction of the Ring Road, more fly-overs and multi-storey garages. These achievements, I'm afraid, would only partially solve the problem.
It's a multi-faceted problem and can't be solved overnight or by the stroke of a pen. Meanwhile, the situation is rapidly deteriorating. The people can't afford to wait until Cairo is thrown into all-out chaos. Traffic jams have taken a heavy toll on citizen's lives, their time and their nerves, let alone their manners!
I propose a solution in two phases, one immediate and one long term. The latter phase is not my concern now.
The immediate approach may be summed up as follows. We could stop issuing more licences now and license one car for each family, scrap old cars, double licence fees and traffic fines, relocate some ministries and their related departments outside Cairo (when their location in the capital is not a must), remove itinerant and street-corner vendors, and defeat any attempt to create more shanty areas.
Another proposal worth pondering in this phase is to do as Nigeria did in the early '80s; cars with odd-numbered licence plates can alternate with those having even-numbered plates. On the week-end, all cars can be used freely so long as this does not impede traffic. Improving and developing public transport will be, of course, a linchpin of any viable plan to decongest the capital.
Mahmoud Elewa
Maadi
Beyond the Arab world
Sir- I have been a frequent visitor to Egypt and a regular reader of Al-Ahram Weekly for many years. I would like to express my recognition of your intrepid and sometimes even investigative journalism as far as the dangers of terrorism at home and abroad are concerned.Furthermore, I highly appreciate your reports about Egyptian history and culture, which show your great devotion to the preservation of your national heritage.
Nevertheless, I would like to get more information about non-Arab countries, especially about Europe, in order to bridge the gap between the Islamic and non-Islamic world.
Dr Michael von Ruden
Kassel
Germany
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