Deficiencies in national transport are again in the spotlight following yet another tragic accident In the face of criticism from opposition and independent MPs the ministers of transport and health have refused to accept any responsibility for the road accident in Marsa Matrouh on 16 July which left 44 dead and 35 injured. Addressing a joint parliamentary committee on Sunday, Minister of Transport Mohamed Mansour said the accident at the Fooka rail junction near the Mediterranean town was the result of human error. Mansour told the committee that the driver of a heavy-goods vehicle trailer "pushed cars and buses in front of an express, causing the death of citizens and the destruction of several cars and three train coaches". The junction, said Mansour, "was fully equipped with warning lamps and alarm bells". He argued that the accident served to underline official statistics suggesting that 73 per cent of road accidents are due to human error and poor driving skills, 22 per cent a result of unroadworthy vehicles, and five per cent due to bad roads. "I hope that the strict application of last May's traffic laws will in future prevent any further road accidents caused by trailers," said Mansour. The law imposes a ban on trailers but allows a grace period of four years for them to be replaced. Some MPs requested the replacement timetable be cut to one year. Mansour pointed out that replacing Egypt's 1,261 road/rail junctions with bridges and flyovers would cost at least LE36 billion, far beyond his ministry's budget. He also told MPs that plans are afoot to upgrade 705 of the busiest junctions in two phases. "In coordination with Cairo University's Faculty of Engineering, we hope to implement the plans within 18 months." Mansour's arguments failed to contain the anger of opposition, and even some ruling party MPs. Hamdi El-Tahan, chairman of the joint parliamentary committee, said that citizens had yet to feel any improvement in road and railway services. "This is despite the fact that in 2006 the government allocated LE5 billion to improving railway and road facilities." Farouk Taha, chairman of the Defence and National Security Committee, said the Fooka road junction was notorious: "It is so uneven that drivers are often forced to trespass the limits and hit the train tracks." Ahmed Bilal, another ruling party MP, recalled government promises in 2004 to upgrade more than 300 road junctions within four years. "In the aftermath of every major car or train accident the government makes promises and yet nothing gets done," he said. Opposition MP Saad Abboud claimed the Fooka accident provided yet more evidence of the irresponsibility of ministers, highlighting how slow they are to act and how, when they do, their responses are seldom coordinated with other departments. Mansour responded by saying he did not possess a "magic wand" capable of resolving Egypt's problems overnight. "These problems are the result of a history of neglect and will take a long time to solve." He did, however, say that the public would begin to feel benefits by March 2009. Minister of Health Hatem El-Gabali said he was satisfied with the performance of hospitals and medical facilities in dealing with the aftermath of the accident. "It took just 40 minutes to transport the injured 72 kilometres to hospitals in Marsa Matrouh," said El-Gabali. He also revealed that the Ministry of Health has a three-year plan to improve medical services on the road between Cairo and Marsa Matrouh which includes building ambulance stations every 25 kilometres and "buying helicopters at a cost of LE100 million to offer ambulance services to distant areas". El-Gabali said the Ministry of Health needs an additional 1,213 ambulances to supplement those currently in service in order to cover the whole of the country. "The Ministry of Health has already received an additional 370 ambulance cars, 50 of which will be available for use on the Cairo- Matrouh road," said El-Gabali, who praised the citizens of Marsa Matrouh who donated 450 bags of blood, following the accident. Opposition MPs used the incident as an opportunity to attack the government for reducing the 2008/2009 health budget by LE900 million. "This happens at a time when the government has raised the budget of the Interior Ministry by LE1.8 billion," said Abboud, who questioned the priorities of a government that values the security needs of the regime at twice that of the health of the nation's poorest.
