CAIRO - Outside a marquee in one of Giza's densely populated areas, hundreds of haggard-looking people are waiting eagerly and patiently in a long queue to get beef at ‘unbelievable prices'. After the spreading of the foot-and-mouth virus, which has already killed hundreds of animals across the country, fears have risen that meat prices would increase substantially. However, the Salafists (ultra-conservative Muslims) and Muslim Brothers have not stood by with their hands tied. They have acted swiftly to provide hardworking people on low incomes with ‘affordable meat'. Using the slogan ‘Everyone Has to Eat Meat', traders belonging to Salafist and Brotherhood groups have erected marquees in slum areas, where they sell meat at low prices ranging from LE20 to LE35. The usual meat price is between LE60 and LE70 per kilogramme. "Eating meat has become a dream for my family and me. I earn less than LE400 a month. Do you think I can pay LE60 for a kilo of meat? It's impossible," said civil servant Essam Abdel-Moaz, 38, while waiting outside a marquee in el-Umrania, Giza. Abdel-Moaz is just one among millions of Egyptians, who are happy with this non-governmental service for people on a low income. It was said that the Health Ministry did not license the marquees selling baladi meat and that the meat did not come from governmental slaughterhouses. The meat might not meet health and safety standards as a result. "We shouldn't buy expensive meat just to make the government happy. If the meat from the marquees were not safe, why did the Government not put a stop to it?" Mahfouz asked when speaking to the Egyptian Gazette. Dr Osama Selim, the Head of the General Authority for Veterinary Services, said that the Ministry of Supply had set up similar marquees a year ago to help the poor. "However, just before the parliamentary elections, some parties like the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice party and the Salafist el-Nour began to offer their services, intending to get grassroots support," Dr Selim added. Although veterinary doctors warn that the meat sold in these marquees could be contaminated, people don't care. "They just want meat they can afford," said a citizen, who had interrupted his work to join the long queue and surprise his children, who had not eaten any meat in months. "This meat is not harmful. I've bought it several times and nothing happened," driver Mohamed Mahfouz, 45, told this newspaper. He added that the marquee owners were devout Muslims (a clear reference to the Islamist groups, whose street presence won them the majority of votes in the parliamentary elections); they would never cheat people or do anything to harm them.
