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Al-Ahram Weekly 31 August - 6 September 2000 Issue No. 497 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 31 August - 6 September 2000 Issue No. 497
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters The left is ready
THE FIRST political party to unveil its platform for the coming parliamentary elections was the left-leaning Tagammu Party under Khaled Mohieddin's leadership. The 20-page manifesto begins by declaring that it is "our duty to ourselves and to our sons, daughters and grandchildren to reject the present situation, which is unacceptable, strive towards changing it, and make the upcoming parliamentary elections an introduction to change." The slogan raised by party candidates is: "Towards independent development, social justice and political freedom." The platform does not present any major break from the party's policy adopted during last year's congress. The economic highlights underline the need for combining state planning and market forces, stress the importance of national industry, call for the protection and reorganisation of the public sector, urge economic regulation to serve the underprivileged classes, fight unemployment, reform the taxation system and adopt a new and self-reliant agricultural policy. Politically, the programme calls for the freedom of assembly, particularly the right of workers to reorganise the trade union structure, combatting corruption, ending the state of emergency and greater freedoms in general. There are also special sections promoting inter-Arab cooperation and cooperation between Nile Basin countries, as well as addressing the problems of young people and women.Princesses lose palace case
THE CAIRO Court of Appeals threw out on Tuesday a lawsuit brought by ex-King Farouk's three daughters -- Ferial, Fawzia and Fadia -- demanding re-possession of the Tahra Palace as well as 1,750 feddans in the Sharqiya governorate.The Court argued that the decision of the Revolutionary Command Council, set up in the wake of the July 1952 army revolution, to sequestrate these properties was aimed at the public benefit. The 1956 Constitution affirmed that the Tahra Palace was public property and, consequently, the palace and the land should rest with the government, the court said.
The case has been deliberated by the courts since 1997.
Suez Canal boost
THE GOVERNMENT has approved a $441 million project that will widen and deepen the Suez Canal to permit the passage of larger super-tankers.A statement by the Suez Canal Authority said the expansion work will increase the canal's width from 345 to 400 metres and its depth from 22 to 25 metres. The changes will increase the canal's draught to permit the passage of 92 per cent of commercial ships in use.
By next year, the project will have advanced enough to allow the passage of 200,000-ton ships with a 62-foot draught, compared to the 60-foot draft permissible to date. At the project's end in 2017, 350,000-ton vessels with a 72-foot draft will be able to pass through the canal. This tonnage is the maximum allowed by international environmental conventions.
The Suez Canal earned Egypt $1.868 billion in fiscal year 1999/2000. The expansion project will be financed fully by canal revenue.
The last straw
FOR SOME reason, citizens are reluctant to hold the government accountable for the provision of reliable, efficient and humane services. So when the escalator of the underground metro station at Tahrir Square was out of order, people just took the stairs and went about their businesses. But Maher Ali El-Sayed, a 31-year-old teacher, had to carry his ailing mother up the stairs after her legs failed her. At that point, El-Sayed decided to break with prevalent apathy.He initiated legal action against the Tunnels Authority, responsible for running the underground, on the grounds that his mother suffered psychologically, having had to be carried out of the station. Not only did he assert that people's feelings should be taken into account, but he also pointed out that by buying a ticket, he had paid the price of the escalator service and that there is an implicit contract between the ticket-holder and the government authority providing the service. When one party does not honour its side of the bargain, it should be held liable, in much the same way as citizens are obliged to pay fines when they violate metro regulations, he argued.
Feline mourning
THEY SAY cats are not loyal, yet the devotion 18 cats showed to their deceased owner went well beyond the attention he received from his human counterparts. The cats stood vigil for a week over the body of Bahgat Mustafa, a retired civil servant who lived alone and died on 18 August.Neighbours alerted police to the foul smell coming from Mustafa's apartment. When police broke in, Mustafa's body was badly decomposed and surrounded by the felines. Upon attempting to remove the body, policemen were ferociously attacked by the cats. It took them two hours to get the body out of the flat. Mustafa's neighbours knew little about him, but said he used to spend his money on the cats.
As for the cats, they refused the food offered them by police.
Falcon rescue
AN ATTEMPT to smuggle four falcons to Qatar was foiled when Cairo Airport officials became suspicious of a man carrying a container he claimed housed carrier pigeons. Upon questioning, Qatari citizen Feisal Salman admitted he had bought the falcons in the coastal town of Marsa Matruh. The birds were confiscated and Salman was allowed to board the plane.Using falcons for hunting purposes is common in the Gulf states. However, since the falcon is on the protected species list, Egyptian law bans its export.
Compiled by Fatemah Farag
