Borg Al-Borollos still seethes over bread and flour shortages. Reem Leila visited an angry people Last year it was water. Now it's flour. Although clashes between the residents of Borg Al-Borollos and security forces over subsidised flour rations have ended, the public's rage in the northern coastal town continues. Though the streets are calm, frustration can literally be felt and a strong police presence adds to the tension. A meeting late Saturday night led by Kafr Al-Sheikh Governor Ahmed Zaki Abdin sought to defuse the tension. An agreement was reached to increase the supply of flour available to residents in the area and to subsidise the product. According to Abdin, people can now buy flour at LE30 per sack of seven kilogrammes. The governorate will give LE8 to residents who then must pay the remaining amount. The new prices apparently only made a bad situation worse, with residents of Borg Al-Borollos warning that if the governor did not change his decision by the beginning of next month, they will take him to court and hold another demonstration. The governor's decision came after nearly 5,000 people demonstrated early this month in Borg Al-Borollos in Kafr Al-Sheikh governorate, cutting off the international highway between Arish and Marsa Matruh in protest against the governor's decision to stop selling flour to warehouses and ban flour distribution on ration cards. The protesters burned tires to stop traffic on the road. In return, security forces used tear gas and batons to disperse the crowds. Several people were beaten and injured and many were hospitalised after inhaling tear gas. Almost 90 people were arrested, most of whom were released "except for 20 people who will be freed within the next few days", Borg Al-Borollos MP Hamdin Sabbahi said. "More than 50 security officers were injured in the riots. There were losses on both sides," Sabbahi said. Two years ago, each family received 25kg of subsidised flour for LE7 which was reduced to 10 kilos last year followed by another drop in the quantity to eight kilos at the beginning of this year, all the while the price remaining the same. On a tour conducted by Al-Ahram Weekly in the village, none of the residents were content with the governor's compromise. "We cannot afford paying more than LE3 per kilogramme especially with the current circumstances because the government has banned us from fishing since the beginning of May," complained fisherman Mohamed Hassan. Fishing is banned for two months every year on the country's coasts to help increase the number of fish. "The governor's decision is scandalous. Each time we want to buy a flour sack we must submit a petition to the governor stating we cannot afford it in order to give us the LE8 grant," grumbled an elderly fisherman Am Atiya, adding the sack was only sufficient for three days. "The governor wants to humiliate us. Each time we want flour we must prove that we are poor, though it is evident and does not need any proof," Am Atiya added sarcastically. Although most of Borg Al-Borollos's 36 warehouses are void of flour sacks, a few house them, but the flour will spoil after time because people have stopped buying due to its high cost. "The decision to end the direct distribution of flour was implemented in all governorates and passed smoothly. Kafr Al-Sheikh was the only governorate left," explained Abdin. The government argues that outlet managers sold the subsidised flour on the black market, wasting a substantial amount of the high- demand commodity. Accordingly, all governorates passed a new law that allows citizens to receive bread from bakeries to minimise black market dealings. "It is a better way to allocate bread and flour," Abdin said. However, Kafr Al-Sheikh citizens believe they are being treated differently from those living in other governorates. With 70,000 fishermen, constituting 99 per cent of the population, many of Kafr Al-Sheikh's residents were left jobless after the law banning fishing in Mediterranean waters was passed two months ago. "We have no income and were dependant on the flour we bake at home. With this new law, every citizen gets two loaves of bread for his family, which is not enough," frustrated residents told the Weekly. Fishermen in Borg Al-Borollos prefer to take the flour and bake their own style of bread suited to long fishing voyages, which could last for three weeks, rather than buy the standard subsidised bread from the bakery. "People here have been suppressed for a long time and the government is not paying any attention to us. The fishermen are jobless," said Ismail El-Sayed, a warehouse owner in Borg Al-Borollos. "Last year we had a water crisis, the village almost sank in a swamp of sewage. What is the government waiting for before solving our problems?" Borg Al-Borollos residents wondered. There have also been accusations that people are selling the subsidised flour on the black market for a profit, leading to shortages. Like much of the rest of the world, Egypt has been wracked by rising food prices and stagnant wages, resulting in protests and demonstrations. Sabbahi says the Egyptian government is dealing with such crises as current emergencies, while they reflect, in essence, the bankruptcy of the regime and the National Democratic Party (NDP) in running the political and economic affairs of the country. "It is a bankruptcy that seems clear when you consider that all these issues are assigned to security agencies to manage rather than trying to find political solutions to handle the roots of the crises," Sabbahi said. Regarding the governor's decision, Sabbahi said, "the governor is new and he should have better studied the area of Kafr Al-Sheikh, especially Borg Al-Borollos village, before taking this decision. Most of the residents are fishermen and they need to take flour on their long trips out to sea."
