The Egyptian Writers' Union said it was sorry that Finance Minister Youssef Boutros Ghali was insisting on transferring Sharjah grant to the Ministry of Culture's budget although it had been allocated to the Union to help its members receive medical treatment. In a statement issued yesterday, the Union says there was no disagreement with Culture Minister Farouk Hosni, who agreed on allocating the LE20-million grant to the Union. The grant has been deposited with one of Cairo's banks so that its annual interests would be used in treating the union's members. When Sharjah ruler learnt that, he transferred an extra LE1.2 million to be immediately spent on treating the members till the deposit's interest are received, the statement says. The union adds that it is the Ministry of Finance which is insisting on transferring the grant to the Ministry of Culture although the union's regulations and a Prime Minister's decree on foreign donations do not provide for that, the statement says.
The union refers the matter to the former deputy chairman of the Court of Cassation Hassan Mahran, who studied the issue and stressed that all the measures the Ministry of Finance wants to impose on the union are illegal.
The statement rejects the Ministry of Finance's decision transfer the grant to the Ministry of Culture's budget, adding: "The union has a legal personality and its budget is subject to the Central Auditing Organization (CAO) and not to the Ministry of Finance or the Ministry of Culture."
Speaking to Al-Masry Al-Youm, the Chairman of the Egyptian Writers' Union Mohamed Salmawy threatened to resort to the judiciary if the Ministry of Finance did not respond to the union's demands, confirming that he would use the grant to treat union members according to the Ministry of Finance's statement.
