CAIRO: Tens of employees in Helwan and Sixth of October governorate offices continued protests in front of the Cabinet demanding the revocation of a decision Thursday to reincorporate the two governorates back to Cairo and Giza. Protesting employees expressed concern over their fate, especially since they were employed with temporary contracts. "We are more than 3,000 temporary employees. After this decision we have been made redundant; they only increased unemployment," said Mohamed Mahmoud, an employee at Helwan governorate. "When Helwan was part of Cairo governorate it was very poorly served but now new projects were launched and it is better," he added. Protestors blocked Magles Al-Sha'ab (Peoples' Assembly) Street and demanded a meeting with Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, threatening to hold a sit-in until he revokes his decision. Helwan, Sixth of October and Luxor were announced independent governorates three years ago through a presidential decree. Protesters said that the interim government isn't authorized to issue such a decree and wondered why Luxor was exempt from a similar fate. "This decision was taken haphazardly, we are the only governorates that are self-sufficient as our quarries produce a net profit of LE 28 million and the industrial zone in Abu Rawash produces LE 40 million," said Ramy Asran, a legal researcher at Sixth of October governorate. "The once ignored Hawamdyah, Badrasheen and Al Ayat municipalities had infrastructure investments worth LE 250 million; plus, we were the most efficient governorate in serving the public," he added. Protestors received promises from the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and met with Minister of Local Development, Mohsen Al-No'many on Thursday who told them that the decision may be cancelled on Sunday. However, they say they were surprised to know on Friday that deputy-governors were appointed for Helwan and Sixth of October and nothing new was announced on Sunday. On Saturday, employees held mass protests near the Cabinet and blocked Qasr Al-Aini street, triggering the anger of motorists. A number of vehicles were slightly damaged before the army dispersed the protest peacefully. "We closed the road to force someone to meet us but we didn't commit any acts of thuggery and we paid for the damages of one microbus which had its glass broken," said Asran. Employees refused a proposal by officials redeploy them across local districts, saying that they may not afford to pay for transportation and many have settled down in their governorates. The decision to reincorporate both governorates with Cairo and Giza was met with content by the majority of residents; however, in rural and remote areas residents organized protests against the decision. Meanwhile, hundreds of science students and members of Scientific Professions Syndicate from across Egypt organized a protest demanding better working conditions and meeting Sharaf and threatened of holding a sit-in if their demands were not met. "We are the only group whose demands weren't met and were ignored. Sharaf gave us two weeks to respond to us but nothing happened till now, so if he refuses to meet us, we will hold a sit-in," said Ahmed Maher, the protestors' spokesperson. Egyptian-Palestinians also held a protest in front of the Cabinet demanding that children of an Egyptian mother and a Palestinian father be granted Egyptian nationality. They said that law 154 for the year 2004 acknowledged this right but was applied only to newborns from this date, not retroactively.
