An exercise of will

Amin Howeidi* seeks to bridge the gap between crises and competence

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Much has been written about the sinking of Al-Salaam 98. Those who survived the ordeal gathered, unbelieving, at the port of Safaga. They were joined by the families of those who did not, hoping against all the odds that God would prove their worst fears wrong. They watched in disbelief the celebrations that marked Egypt's victory in the Africa Cup, watched as officials came to observe the results of their inability to shoulder responsibility, to see what happens to those citizens whose safety has been placed in their hands. And then the officials left, to issue useless statements and make speeches.

Among the most shocking aspects of the disaster is that the company that owned the clapped-out ferry monopolises the Daba- Safaga sea-route. The same company owns other clapped-out ferries that have been involved in accidents before: it clearly took no measures to ensure they would not happen again.

The fact that the boat was registered in Panama was quickly used to somehow deflect blame from its owners and operator in a shameless example of evading responsibility. The boat was owned by an appointed member of the Shura Council, though nobody knows on what grounds he was appointed. Nor has his parliamentary immunity been lifted. No official has submitted a resignation. So what, one has every right to ask, has actually been done in the wake of the tragedy?

Accidents can occur anywhere, in any country. That they occur so often in Egypt, though, without anything being done to protect peoples' lives, is shameful. That the relevant officials are never held accountable -- that, too, is shameful. That the state cannot protect the lives of its citizens is inexcusable. That it is happy to hand over its responsibilities towards the people to the private sector without ensuring the necessary checks are in place is folly of the highest order.

There are enough laws in place. It is simply that they are ignored. Regulations are swept beneath the carpet in schools and hospitals, flouted in the construction of new buildings, which more likely than not will encroach on agricultural land. Laws mean nothing. With a sufficiently thick wad of banknotes you can, quite literally, get away with murder. The system is corrupt to the core.

It should be clear to everyone that we have failed, and failed miserably, to learn anything from the crises we repeatedly mismanage. Crisis management is no easy task -- it requires serious preparation, essential equipment, continuous training. Crises must be monitored so we can minimise the damage. Potential threats -- the dangers posed by such hitherto unknown diseases such as avian flu -- must be taken seriously.

To prevent a reoccurrence of what happened to the ill-fated ferry we have three options.

We could close the sea route altogether. We could ensure that all boats navigating that route meet all international standards and regulations. Or we could build a suspended road link between the Western and Eastern shores of the Red Sea.

The first solution is unreasonable and would be an admission of complete incompetence. The second solution requires an exercise of competence that has not been much in evidence of late. The third solution would involve connecting the Egyptian and Saudi shores by suspension bridge, with pylons on Tiran Island in the mouth of Aqaba Bay. A combination of the second and third solutions would be ideal, and would have the advantage of introducing some necessary competition to the ferries.

Such a bridge can only be considered within the framework of the overall strategy of transport policy.

If a bridge were constructed from Ras Nasrani, 30 kilometres south of Dahab, to Ras Hamid on the eastern shore of the Red Sea, it would connect the Arab states lying on the West of the Suez Gulf to those on the East. It would also circumvent Israel, which acts as a geographic barrier to connections between Arab states. It would enhance trade between the Arab East and West. It is a project that has been discussed for 50 years now and always ends up being shelved.

Those responsible for the ferry disaster must, of course, be brought to justice. And those who died in the tragedy must be honoured by more than empty promises that such a thing can never happen again. Those promises must be kept. And one way to keep them would be for us to finally muster the collective will to build such a bridge.

* The writer is former minister of defence and chief of General Intelligence.