MANY members of the People's Assembly (the Lower House of the Parliament) have started an unprecedented campaign in Cairo and some other governorates for boycotting the purchase of red meat for at least a month. Parliamentarians and NGOs are working to force traders and butchers to reduce the price of beef, which has now reached LE50 ($9) per kilo in popular districts and LE90 in upmarket areas. The MPs have addressed interpellations, (queries must be answered by officials concerned) to Minister of Social Solidarity Ali Mesilhi; Minister of Trade and Industry Rashid M. Rashid; and Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif about the hikes in the meat prices. They say that the Government has failed to deal with the beef crisis because it disagrees with the management of the meat markets and is incapable of reaching a gentleman's agreement with butchers on the price. At the same time, the Government has raised the price of local beef in the co-operatives to nearly LE40 per kilo, having failed to reach an agreement with the countries that export it to Egypt, due to pressure from the meat Mafia. The MPs say that meat will rise in price yet again before the end of this year, apparently because the livestock fodder is becoming more expensive. They also say that butchers are having to pay more tax on their shops and the major traders and farm owners complain about the high price of cattle. The parliamentarians have called on the Government to fix a reasonable price for the meat and to stop greedy traders tampering with the price. They warn of a serious crisis, as more than 70 per cent of families cannot afford to buy a kilo of meat. Some never eat beef, not even during big feasts like Eid el Adha (the Greater Bairam), unless kind people, who can afford it, or charitable associations buy them some. The MPs are calling for the Government to allow NGOs to trade in meat, in order to break the monopoly of the local market enjoyed by a number of rich traders. Another idea is to establish co-operative farms for cattle breeding, supported by the Government. They also want a decree banning the importing of different kinds of frozen meat by the private sector to be rescinded. This comes as a result of an opposition newspaper recently reporting that a large quantity of adulterated beef was imported from India. The meat was examined in the Ministry of Health laboratories and officials there discovered that it was infected with harmful parasites and was therefore unfit for human consumption. It has also been reported that the former Chairman of the Veterinary Services Authority was involved with a number of private-sector companies in importing this rotten meat. Butchers agree that the Government must impose a price, blaming the hikes on the providers and breeders. “The butchers are innocent, as they have to buy the meat from the providers for a very high price, which is why they've put their prices up too,” says Ahmed Ali, a butcher in a co-operative in Shubra, northern Cairo. Many butchers may have to close their shops, as more and more people start refusing to pay LE70 a kilo for beef. Nadia Kamal, a housewife, says it's cheaper to buy beef at the outlets affiliated to the Ministry of Agriculture, which has also allowed a number of private-sector companies to import nearly 61,000 heads of cattle and 44,000 tonnes of frozen meat. The cattle, to be slaughtered here at the abattoirs in Safaga and Ain Sukhna, will be imported from Sudan, Ethiopia, Australia and Djibouti. The beef will be sold for LE35 per kilo.
