Seas of thirst

By Saad Hagras

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In 1981, Atiyat Al-Abnoudi wrote and directed a documentary called Seas of Thirst. The piece relates in full the daily suffering of the village of Burg Al-Burullus, where the inhabitants had a serious water shortage. This film is a very important document. Indeed, it is an indictment of every government that has come to power since, for their rosy rhetoric has done little to help out the inhabitants of Burg Al-Burullus and similar villages in Egypt.

The government of the National Democratic Party wouldn't deign -- heaven forbid -- to share power with anyone else. It often brags about the great infrastructure it has given us, including the water and sewage facilities it builds for our sake. Infrastructure is the country's "national project", the government often reminds us. And yet it took a revolt of the thirsty for the bubble of lies to burst. Now we know the truth, and it is scandalous. In any other country we would have seen fact- finding committees springing to action over such a scandal. In any other country the government would have fallen.

The worst part about all of this is not that the government was lying. The worst part is that the opposition proved, yet again, that it has totally lost touch with reality. The opposition should have warned us of the tragic conditions in which thousands of peasants live. The opposition should have alerted us to shortages of drinking and irrigation water. The opposition should have led protests against the government. But it didn't.

The revolt of the thirsty was an indictment not only of Egypt's governments, but also of the opposition. For 26 years we've known that we have a crisis on our hands. And for 26 years we've done nothing.

This week's Soapbox speaker is managing editor of Al-Alam Al-Yom newspaper.