Rebuilding begins

Efforts are underway to restore the Shura Council's meeting hall before the new parliamentary session begins next November, reports Gamal Essam El-Din

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Restoration is underway to resurrect the Shura Council

Government and parliamentary officials joined forces this week to ensure that the fire-gutted home of the Shura Council is rebuilt as quickly and efficiently as possible. President Hosni Mubarak visited the scene of the blaze on 21 August and issued orders that restoration work begin as soon as possible so that the main hall at least is available when parliament opens in November.

A technical committee led by Minister of Housing Ahmed El-Maghrabi filed a preliminary report on Saturday. Informed sources say the report recommends a three- stage plan. The first stage, expected to take two months, will focus on restoring the main meeting hall of the Shura Council building, according to Ibrahim Mahlab, general director of the state-owned Arab Contractors Company (ACC).

"Work will continue day and night so that the hall becomes ready for meetings before President Mubarak delivers his annual speech at the opening of parliament in November," said Mahlab.

Work has already begun clearing away the debris and pumping out the water used to extinguish the flames.

Safwat El-Sherif, chairman of the Shura Council and secretary-general of the ruling National Democratic party (NDP), said on Sunday that the Shura Council's meeting hall suffered only 25 per cent damage. "This is an encouraging sign that the restoration of the hall will be complete within two months," El-Sherif said. He added that the nearby Al-Dostour Hall, where Egypt's first liberal constitution was drafted in 1923, was almost intact.

The second stage of the restoration plan is expected to last between eight months to a year, during which the first and second floors of the Shura building will be reconstructed and refurbished.

The third stage involves completely rebuilding the third floor where the fire started. It is expected to take up to two years, say sources, and cost between LE75 million and LE100 million. There are also plans to install a comprehensive fire alarm system to cover the entire parliament.

Answering earlier criticisms El-Sherif said that during the last restoration, between 2006 and 2008, the Shura building was fitted with an alarm system.

"The alarms went off when the fire broke out on 19 August but such was the size of the blaze they had little effect," said El-Sherif. He went on to praise the efforts of firemen in fighting the conflagration and singled out the man who died, a member of the Shura Council staff.

Early reports by the prosecutor-general suggest restoration might not be so simple a matter. The engineering consultant for the People's Assembly and Shura Council told prosecution authorities that because the buildings were constructed largely from wood, allowing the fire to cause extensive damage, it is difficult at this stage to say whether they can be restored. People's Assembly experts put the cost of the damage of 19 August's fire at an initial LE150 million.

Officials have been keen to emphasise that the government will foot the repair bill. El-Sherif said that since parliament was a national symbol it was only right that the repair bill be footed by the government. This contradicts his earlier announcement that businessmen would foot the bill.

Parliamentary sources refute press claims that the fire had destroyed a large number of parliamentary documents, including the original draft of the 1923 constitution and the minutes of the trial of the nationalist hero Ahmed Orabi in 1882. The manager of the People's Assembly Information Centre said original documents were all safe in the assembly's library and that copies had been made on CD.

Several parliamentary committees have been formed to investigate the causes of the fire. A fact-finding committee including representatives from the ruling NDP, independent and opposition parties had also been set up to investigate "any political responsibility behind the catastrophe", according to El-Sherif.

"The committee," he said, "will have full access to reports made by the prosecutor- general and criminal laboratories and will be able to call officials and parliamentarians for questioning."

Speaker of the People's Assembly Fathi Sorour ruled that the assembly's Defence and National Security Committee should meet as soon as possible to prepare its own report on the fire.

Although investigation by the prosecutor- general about the causes of the fire is still underway, preliminary reports have ruled out arson. Prosecution sources suggest that the most likely causes are an electrical fault, the use of flammable materials in ongoing maintenance on the third floor or the explosion of one of the gas butane cylinders used by caterers.

On Monday, rescue workers recovered the body of Fouad Mansour, the fireman who died while battling the flames.