Issue No.588
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30 May - 5 June 2002 Issue No.588 Home news |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
Negligence to blame
Prime Minister Atef Ebeid was questioned yesterday about reforms he vowed to introduce in the aftermath of the tragic 20 February train inferno. Gamal Essam El-Din reports
Prime Minister Atef Ebeid was questioned on his government's "laxity" in addressing Egypt's rail network safety problems in the aftermath of the 20 February train disaster. The questioning was part of an interpellation (a question that must be answered) levelled by Mohamed Mursi, the spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood's 17 deputies in parliament.
Mursi attacked Ebeid for his "premature conclusions" on the cause of the train inferno, which he announced just a few hours after the accident. "We all listened to what Ebeid said about the train disaster. He said the Aswan-bound train left the stock workshop without any technical defects. He added that there are no indications of any kind of negligence in terms of safety measures and technical components," Mursi said. These were also the conclusions that the prosecutor-general reached about the accident, Mursi added. "The prosecution emphasised that the seriousness of the accident was due to gross negligence by the maintenance staff."
A 56-page report prepared by a parliamentary fact-finding committee was also discussed in parliament yesterday. The report emphasised: "Ebeid, in a statement delivered before parliament on 2 March, vowed that technical innovation and reform programmes were already laid out to be submitted for discussion by parliament at any time."
The report, however, criticised Ebeid's programme as "not having been implemented on time, while some urgently needed safety measures have been hampered by massive delays".
The report lamented: "...the fact that the promised programmes have not been implemented in time is deplorable. We know that this is the result of years of negligence. However, the biggest disgrace is that the government seems woefully ignorant of the need to reform the rail network at any cost." This is the least the government must do if it is to regain public confidence.
The fact-finding commission report emphasised that the next fiscal year's development plan must include allocations targeted at manufacturing as many as 1,000 third and second class coaches and replacing 130 train locomotives. "Of these figures, 500 coaches must be manufactured within two years," the report stated. The report also came up with a list of 18 recommendations aimed at ensuring that "critical rail safety improvements will be delivered within two years". One of the highest priorities involves setting up a Higher Council for Rail Safety. "This independent council will be in charge of modernising the Egyptian National Railway (ENR) and improving maintenance, administration and service," the report said. The report, however, ruled out privatisation as the ultimate panacea for Egypt's chronic rail problems. It argued that raising ticket prices might alleviate the ENR's debts and losses (estimated by Ebeid to be a mammoth LE17 billion). "Citizens are quite ready to afford price hikes, but only on the condition that these are offset by tangible improvements in rail safety and quality of train coaches," the report said.
The report also demanded that the government submit to parliament an honest account detailing the amount of funds granted to the accident victims.
The report also stressed that the train fire was caused by a butane gas stove. "The passengers were not prevented by the transport police from carrying these stoves on the train, even when they knew that the train lacked fire extinguishers," it said.
Overcrowding was also cited as a major contributing factor: " ...each car contained as many as 300 passengers. They are designed to hold no more than 100 people," the report said. It also estimated that the train was carrying as many as 3,818 passengers. "Out of this figure, 3,049 passengers boarded the train at the maintenance workshops, while a mere 769 caught it at Cairo's Upper Egypt station."
Some MPs, especially independents and opposition members, slammed the commission's report. They said it was not comprehensive and for politically-motivated reasons failed to implicate senior officials.
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