CAIRO: The Engineers Against Receivership, a group formed to end government control over the syndicate, protested on Tuesday in front of the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation against the ministry's refusal to organize a general assembly for the Engineers' Syndicate. "We submitted a request to the minister in April 2009, signed by 150 engineers, to set a date for the general assembly, Moataz Heshmawy one of the group's members, said, adding that they want to form an extraordinary general assembly. Heshmawy said the group has three main demands they are trying to convey to the minister with these protests; "to set a date for the general assembly, to increase fresh engineering graduates' salary to LE 1,500 and increase the pension for retired engineers. He added that the minister told them to be patient while he considers their demands. Heshmawy explained that the group filed a lawsuit against the head of the South Cairo Court for ruling against forming a new board for the Engineers' Syndicate. In December, the North Cairo Primary Cassation Court Cairo Court ruled to end the 15-year-long receivership over the Engineers' Syndicate. The case was filed by the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights. The court issued a verdict to lift the receivership of Engineers' Syndicate which has been imposed since April 22, 1995. The verdict was mainly an attempt to cease the restrictions over the syndicate's freedom and provide a platform for the engineers to take a step forward freedom of syndicates. "We have heard that there is an appeal against the verdict; however, we did not receive any formal notification, said Khaled Ali Omar, the executive director of the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights. Heshmawy believes that the appeal was raised by engineers who believe that receivership is important for the Engineers' Syndicate. "The reason behind not wanting to end this receivership is that when we have elections we will be able to uncover the amount of money that has been stolen from the syndicate, Heshmawy said. "We are sure we will win the case, said Heshmawy. He said that engineers are planning to hold more protests and sit-ins until the government meets their demands.
