CAIRO: Farmers in Beni Suef threatened Monday to go on another strike if they do not get the land allocated to them by the former governor. "3,000 of us protested in front of the governorate building two days ago, Shehab Abu Zeid, a farmer, told The Daily Star Egypt in a telephone interview, "we are ready to do it again. The dispute began over 10 months ago when the former governor of Beni Suef allocated 13 feddans to the small village of Fiadat Al-Sharqiya, home to 300 families, for development after a huge fire nearly destroyed the overcrowded village. But according to the Land Center for Human Rights, the Mayor of the small village, Mohamed Makram Ebeid, took the land by force. He farmed and cultivated it to ensure his ownership and prevent the farmers from taking it back. When the villagers filed several complaints to various security bodies, three decrees were issued to reclaim the land, but none of them were executed. A farmer speaking to The Daily Star Egypt on condition of anonymity said the current governor issued the decrees, but the executive body refused to carry them out because the Mayor is at the heart of the conflict is too powerful. Karam Saber, lawyer at the Land Center for Human Rights, said that the center had made official complaints on behalf of the farmers, but that the governorate did not respond. However, he added, in order to appease the angry farmers, the governorate offered them another piece of land, in an area called Nahdet Al-Nasara nearly four kilometers away from their village. The disgruntled farmers are threatening to go on another strike within two weeks, tying their hands and gagging their mouths in protest. "We refuse to let go of the land we were promised, said the anonymous farmer, "we sent complaints to the Prime Minister, the Minister of Interior and security officials. Who else can give us our rights?
