The spot in front of the People's Assembly is becoming a favoured meeting point for airing grievances, reports Mohamed Abdel-Baky Fed up with the unfulfilled promises to solve their problems, dozens of angry workers and the handicapped vowed to continue their sit-in protest outside the main gates to the People's Assembly which began in February. Workers from the Land Improvement Authority in Beheira governorate, a group of the handicapped and workers from the Nubaria Company for Agricultural Equipment, may air different grievances but their form of protest is the same. Handicapped demonstrators complain that they are deprived of employment and housing rights to which they are legally entitled, while the agriculture workers are protesting against low, and in some cases unpaid, salaries. The three groups have said they will take "stronger action" if the government continues to "ignore their demands". Bringing children and spouses to take part in the sit-ins is one option being considered. Handicapped protesters have prepared a black list of governors who have refused to respond to their demands. Ali Abul-Magd, their spokesman, told Al-Ahram Weekly that the group has filed a complaint before the attorney-general against Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif for violating articles of the constitution that protect the rights of the handicapped. He added that ministers and governors have been ignoring their demands for the last two months, and have turned a deaf ear to calls voiced by the People's Assembly speaker Fathi Sorour to settle the dispute. On Monday participants in the sit-in started a one-week hunger strike. "I have been living in a basement for 38 years. It seems that government officials have no mercy. Otherwise I would have been allocated a small flat to live in," says Mustafa Ali from his damaged wheel chair. Ali was born in 1972. He lives with his wife and four children in a basement room of nine square metres in the Al-Sharabiya neighbourhood of Northern Cairo. "The room lacks sanitation. It has no water or electricity," he adds. Ali first began his search for alternative accommodation in 1991, when he applied for an apartment in a public housing project. He is still awaiting a reply from the Cairo governorate. "My left leg was amputated in 1990," 48- year-old Mustafa Abdel-Aziz told the Weekly. "I have applied many times for a flat to live in with my four daughters but I have yet to receive anything." For those handicapped protesters searching for a job the sit-in is a last resort. Though government institutions have a legal obligation to reserve five per cent of jobs for handicapped applicants studies show that the figure seldom reaches 1.6 per cent of staff. Abdel-Salam Mohamed, 26, a graduate from the Faculty of Mass Communication, Zagazig, has been looking for a job for three years. Mohamed came from Sharqiya governorate to take part in the protest. "The sidewalk is the only place for me now. I will not go home without getting a job," he says. Replying to the complaints, Minister of Manpower Aisha Abdel-Hadi stressed that 50 per cent of the protesters are already employed in government jobs. Cairo Governor Abdel-Azim Wazir also said that his team is studying the applications submitted by the protesters, and "we have already allocated housing units to 54 of them." Abul-Magd denies that any of the group has received anything from the Cairo governorate. Workers for Al-Nubaria Company for Agricultural Equipment decided to stage their sit-in in an attempt to force payment of what they say are their financial dues. The onetime state-owned company was sold two years ago to an Egyptian businessman living in the US. Following the sale the company closed operations, leaving 217 workers unpaid. Shehabeddin Ahmed, secretary-general of the company's Labour Committee told the Weekly that the employees intended to petition the attorney-general to appoint a commissioner to re-open the company and act as director. "Until they appoint a commissioner all of us will be sleeping here with our families," Ahmed said. Workers at the Land Improvement Authority, an affiliate of the Ministry of Agriculture, are protesting for a third week against low salaries. More than 137 workers are participating in the sit-in. They are paid just LE100 monthly for a full-time job. "Can anyone believe that a whole family's monthly income is LE100? It is unfair," says Ahmed El-Khawaga, coordinator of the agricultural workers. After receiving no response from the Ministry of Agriculture, the angry workers submitted complaints to the attorney-general against Agriculture Minister Amin Abaza and Minister of Manpower Aisha Abdel-Hadi. Last week the protesters were joined by 90 families from Dweiqa who were forced to evacuate their homes following a rockslide and who have yet to receive alternative housing.
