Around 500 citizens from the Sheikh Ali Village in Beni Suef demonstrated before the governorate's local council on Monday, protesting the official price set for their land. The government estimated that land costs LE270 per square meter. Residents of the village say the price of a square meter doesn't exceed LE20. Governor of Beni Suef Ezzat Abdallah urged the concerned authorities to study the issue and take the necessary measures. Real Estate Tax employees in the same governorate also went on strike on Monday to protest the practices of some members of the old Syndicate Committee who allegedly attempted to drive a wedge between the employees of the seven departments of the Real Estate Directorate in Beni Suef. The tax employees claim that the committee members forged their signatures on complaints against Salwa Taha, director general of the Real Estate Tax Department, and politicized the syndicate by involving the National Democratic Party and Central Security Forces in employee affairs. In Daqahlia, some 50 traders and maize farmers held a sit-in at the main granary in Sembellawin to protest the government's delay in setting a date for receiving the harvested crop and fixing the price of corn this year. The delay has led to the accumulation and damage of the crop, the farmers say. Mohamed Noaman, deputy of the Food Supply Directorate in Daqahlia, denied knowing why the granary was not open to traders. He affirmed that the decision to keep it closed belongs to the ministry. The Social Workers' Syndicate in Alexandria threatened yesterday to organize protests because they say the state is ignoring their demands to improve pensions for its members. They also refused the modest subsidy provided by the state and rejected being monitored by the Central Auditing Organization. Translated form the Arabic Edition.
