Lack in funding is the main reason for the deterioration of cultural activities adopted by Egypt's Ministry of Culture, said Minister of Culture Emad Abu-Ghazi. He said each Egyptian's share of the culture budget is only 35 piasters (U.S. $0.06). Abu-Ghazi added that despite the limited possibilities and budget, the Culture Palaces Authority managed to cover the entire country from Halaib to Rafah. He warned that the Cultural Development Fund will suffer more after separating the antiquities department into an independent ministry. The minister also blamed the unfair distribution of the ministry's services and activities. He said the capital, Cairo, obtains the bulk of such activities. The minister said during a meeting with members of the Rotary Club of 6 October City that promoting Egyptian cinema should be through adopting film activities in the cultural palaces and not through festivals which cost more than 12 million EGP (U.S. $2 million). He said, "We are studing how to use the cinema halls of the cultural palaces in presenting such activities at low prices.” Abu-Ghazi confirmed that the next stage will witness a plan to support "cultural democracy" through achieving fair distribution of cultural services to restore the cultural balance in Egyptians' cultural lives. He added that Egypt enjoys cultural diversity so the policy adopted by the ministry should acknowledge such diversity. He said there are cultural groups in Siwa, Sinai, Nubia and the oases, so Egypt must deal with such cultures and respect their privacy. The third issue is to support the democracy of management and ending individual management of the institution through adopting the principle of elections in forming the different managements. Then, democracy of cultural work must be supported to defend the freedom of expression which needs legislative amendments after years of obstacles and security interference. He demanded the legislature and parliamentary institutions support freedom of opinion. Abu-Ghazi said in recent years the government focused on establishing huge cultural palaces that cost millions of pounds. He said small libraries cost 5-10 million EGP (U.S. $850,000 - $1.7 million) while cultural palace cost about 40 million EGP (U.S. $6.7 million). He said these huge sums could be used to build 20 small palaces or cultural halls or establish 50 portable theatres and cinemas. He confirmed that the Egyptian people are cultured so they managed to overthrow the former regime through the youth who have been accused of futility in the recent years. He added that the culture is not related to illiteracy so there are persons who obtained the highest educational certificates and can't deal with the society.
