Nile University (NU) has officially requested the Zewail City for Science and Technology (ZCST) administration to enforce a court order issued by the Supreme Administrative Court last month in favour of the university. The court ruled in November last year that campus grounds and buildings claimed by both NU and ZCST should be divided between the two. This is in addition to LE150,000 in compensation to NU. The verdict was hailed as a victory by Nile University students and staff, however, some were sceptical, pointing out that the ruling has yet to be implemented and the gates of the campus remain locked. The ZCST administration which is still holding onto the land filed two appeals which were later dismissed by the court. On 9 May the NU board held a conference during which they warned the ZCST administration not to use or ruin any of the university's facilities which were initially created for NU students and staff members only. Ahmed Nassar, head of the NU Student Union, described as negligent the ZCST administration's position as well as illegal. “They are violating a court order. They will be legally penalised for benefiting from NU facilities and not enforcing the court ruling. They will be held responsible for what they are doing,” said Nassar. Sherif Fouad, ZCST media consultant, stated that President Mohamed Morsi issued Decree 161/2012 to officially establish the ZCST which is considered a huge national project which will be called “Pyramid of Technology”. There will be a mini-city which comprises three sections: a university for science and technology, several research centres and a centre to apply results of research in order to make it applicable in reality. “The project is considered Egypt's national scientific renaissance and nothing should hinder cooperation between both the NU and ZCST,” said Fouad. According to Nassar, ZCST coveted the NU's land due to its location and space. “The court ruled in the favour of the university. Why then isn't ZCST abiding by the ruling? I can't understand why Morsi issued such a decree. There is a court verdict in our favour. Despite all this, they are doing what they want. Until now we did not manage to enter our university,” Nassar said. Meanwhile, Mohamed Ghoneim, a member of the NU board of directors believes that the ongoing struggle is not between the university and Zewail City, but rather between NU and the government on one side and Zewail and the government on the other. “Long years of conflicting decisions and intentional hindering of the project by the country's successive governments is to be blamed for the current crisis,” said Ghoneim, a leading urologist, and founder of Mansoura University's Kidney Centre. Meanwhile, negotiations are still ongoing between the university's administration and the government to look for an alternative location. The university's board of directors has raised concerns about the reinstallation of the university's sophisticated equipment and providing an alternative place for almost a 200-member staff and 4,000 students before the beginning of the new academic year. “The government is working against itself. When will all this happen? Officials issue a decree, and then its opposite is being applied. Why then should we leave our place?” Ghoneim said. The university's administration has already paid LE62 million to the government for the right to use the campus along with its two buildings and other facilities for 99 years. “Why then is all this fuss still going on?” he argued. NU issued a statement denouncing the “injustice and aggression” the university has been subject to over the past two years. According to the statement, this has effectively mired the university's plans to expand in services and increase the number of students. “Thanaweya amma students are refraining from joining the university as they fear the current dispute might affect their future. Accordingly this saga must come to an end,” the statement said. Nile University is a non-profit institution of higher education. It was established in July 2006 by the Egyptian Foundation for Technological Education Development, dedicated to improving technology-related education. Immediately after the 25 January Revolution a dispute over the land began between Nile University and ZCST. University students were kicked out of its premises. As a temporary solution students set up several tents in front of the university to study in them. In August 2012 NU students held a sit-in on the disputed campus for several weeks until it was dispersed by force. Students also conducted several protests in front of the cabinet downtown, the Press Syndicate and Bibliotheca Alexandrina in the coastal city of Alexandria.
