CAIRO: In a joint statement, three MPs claimed that several high-ranking governmental officials as well as deputy leaders in the Egyptian Radio and Television Union (ERTU) and chief editors of state-run newspapers receive monthly salaries as high as LE 1 million. Independent MPs Gamal Zahran and Mohamed Abdel Alim Dawoud along with Muslim Brotherhood MP Mohsen Rady claim deputy leaders at ERTU earn more than LE 1 million per month, while state-run newspaper chief editors earn up to LE 700,000. The statement listed some officials and their salaries such as Ahmed Fadel, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, estimated to receive LE 250,000 per month; Akel Bashir, chairman of Telecom Egypt, receiving around LE 1 million per month; Atef Ebeid, former prime minister, thought to receive around LE 500,000 plus bonuses estimated at LE 12,000; and Mohamed Ibrahim Soliman, who allegedly receives LE 1,200,000 per month for running the Egyptian Company for Petroleum Services. The three MPs did not provide documents supporting their claims, but said they gathered the information from different classified sources and are sure of its credibility. Rady told Daily News Egypt that "it is difficult for anyone to get hold of an official document indicating the exact salaries of government officials. "Such documents are never released, he said. The statement quoted the United Nations Development Program's Arab Human Development Report that indicated that poverty in Egypt reached 41 percent in 2009. At the end of their statement, the MPs addressed the government asking it if it will take action given the information they provided. A source at the Ministry of State for Administrative Development told Daily News Egypt that the minister is the only one with information about salaries; however, he is yet to respond to the MPs' statement that was sent to his office. Mohamed Khalil Kwaitah, MP and member of the ruling National Democratic Party said that while he is not sure about the statement's credibility, he stressed that all government officials' salaries are monitored by the Central Auditing Agency. According to Rady, the Central Auditing Agency's report that is discussed in the People's Assembly every year said that LE 2 billion is allocated annually for the salaries of high-ranking government officials and employees. "However, the report did not provide names or a breakdown of this number to the PA, Rady added. This is not the first time Rady probes into government officials' salaries. Moreover, Zahran has long called for a fair distribution of salaries among all government employees. Gamal Eid, chairman of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, told Daily News Egypt that due to the lack of valid and credible information and statistics in Egypt, numbers obtained individually by MPs and human rights' organizations "is valid until the government proves otherwise. "Whatever those bodies manage to get through their own investigations is correct unless the government manages to prove them wrong by documents, Eid added. Eid said he more or less agrees with the MPs' statement "because it explains the fortunes the sons of those top officials own. Eid further claimed that he knows of government officials who receive over LE 1 million per month. "The government should provide information and statistics on all issues, not only salaries, he said, citing political arrests whose number has never been confirmed or denied by the government.
