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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 12 - 18 October 2000 Issue No. 503 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 12 - 18 October 2000 Issue No. 503
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Elections Palestine International Economy Opinion Culture Books Interview Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Solidarity flight
SOME 200 Egyptian intellectuals and entertainers headed towards Baghdad yesterday, for a six-hour trip and a show of solidarity with the Iraqi people, who have been suffering under the yoke of UN sanctions for 10 years.The flight was dubbed the Mohamed Al-Dorra Martyr flight, in homage to the Palestinian child murdered by Israeli soldiers two weeks ago. During their visit, the delegation was due to hold a press conference, and visit the Amryeh Compound [the site of a civilian shelter bombed by the Americans during the Gulf War] and a children's hospital.
Nature's course
THE EGYPT Rally 2000, a 3,500-kilometre off-road event that took place between 1-8 October and previously known as the Pharaohs Rally, has ended with no environmental damage reported and even with an Egyptian finalist.Mahmoud Bakr reports that as cars revved up their engines, the Ministry of Environmental Affairs reached a deal with the Ministry of Tourism, which delineated a new track for the racing cars that circumvented the Wadi Al-Rayyan natural reserve in the Fayoum governorate, southwest of Cairo.
This year, the nine-day rally took drivers out into the Western Desert, then south to Lake Nasser and east to the Red Sea before heading back to Cairo through the Nile Valley. In 1999, the rally's route had been the subject of a hot dispute between the Ministry of Environmental Affairs and the Ministry of Tourism with the former alleging that damage, worth LE4 million, was inflicted on the Wadi Al-Rayyan area.
Nadia Makram Ebeid, minister of state for environmental affairs, told reporters that the newly-agreed regulations were aimed at protecting wild-life as well as the geological formations and antiquities of the area. The flight of helicopters as well as littering were prohibited.
According to Ibrahim Abdel-Gelil, executive director of the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA), guards at the Wadi Al-Rayyan natural reserve were responsible for ensuring the implementation of the agreement. For the duration of the race, no violations were reported.
As for the Egyptian finalist, rookie driver Adham Mustafa competed in all three categories, finishing first in the amateur category, third in the marathon and fourth in the T1 category and 15th overall.
Nipped in the bud
THE NATIONAL campaign to combat bilharzia will hit the road next Saturday and will last for two weeks. The aim of the campaign is to reduce spread of bilharzia nationwide to below five per cent. Twenty-four villages with an incidence rate exceeding five per cent have been named and the Ministry of Health will inoculate all their inhabitants. Also, group inoculation for school children will be administered in all governorates.In 1995, the incidence of bilharzia nationwide averaged 14.5 per cent but it was reduced to 4.5 per cent by 1999.
Driven to despair
UNEMPLOYMENT can drive people to the end of the line; at least it drove Hisham Saad Abdel-Sayed to his death. At the ripe age of 30, Hisham could no longer tolerate being unable to find a job. For years, he had searched to no avail, becoming chronically depressed in the last four years.When and how the idea of committing suicide came to his head, no one knows.
We do know, however, that with the last LE5 in his pocket, he bought a container of gasoline, walked into his family's flat, said "hello" to everyone and then quietly walked into the bathroom and set himself on fire. His family tried to save him but, by the time they broke down the door, he was completely ablaze. By the time he reached the hospital, he was dead.
On the lookout
DESPITE the harshness of life, or perhaps because of it, 27 per cent of Egyptians have never been married, although they are eager to tie the knot, according to a recent report released by the Central Authority for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS). This means that 3.7 million women over the age of 16 and some 5 million men over 18 are on the marriage market.Fools rush in
NOT SO long ago, petty swindlers would stand at railway stations awaiting the arrival of naive provincials, coming to the city with a wallet full of crop money to buy goods for the family. The swindlers would try and sell them the un-sellable, such as the tramway and even the Ataba Square, or at least so did our grandfathers' stories claim.But this is not about the antics of old-time petty crooks, it is about a land-dealer who tried to sell a 1,666-feddan piece of land, on which stands the Luxor Sports and Youth Authority, to an investor for LE4.4 million. The head of the authority seemed to think this was a good idea and signed the bill of sale. The whole scam was brought to a halt last week and everyone involved is currently under investigation. The duped, for once, was saved.
Compiled by Fatemah Farag
