posted
Cairo's Poor, Living in Cemeteries, Depend on Mubarak for Homes
Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Ahmed Hanafi was born in a Cairo cemetery in 1975. He still lives there.
``We've got nowhere else to go,'' said Hanafi, speaking on Nov. 22 in the burial vault he shares with his mother, wife, four brothers, three sisters, two daughters and a niece.
Hanafi, a plumber who earns 25 Egyptian pounds ($4.50) a day, is among 300,000 people living among the tombstones in Egypt's capital. The lack of a functioning housing market makes it impossible for him to buy a home. Just 3 percent of real estate is registered, meaning there's no legal framework for most property to change hands. Egyptians buy houses with cash or loans from developers, who demand interest of at least 15 percent.
President Hosni Mubarak is pledging to subsidize low-cost homes and register all land within seven years to help reduce poverty. The registry, in a country where two mortgage lenders serve 72 million people, will make property available as a guarantee for loans and stimulate an economy the government says needs to create 700,000 jobs a year to reduce unemployment.
``Having a real mortgage market would be an important social and economic step forward,'' Wessam Mohie, a real estate analyst at Cairo-based investment bank EFG-Hermes Holding, said in an interview on Nov. 29.
Mortgage Market
Mubarak's plan would create a mortgage market worth at least 15 billion Egyptian pounds, according to government estimates. The value of unregistered real estate exceeds 60 billion pounds, Ashraf Abdelwahab, senior adviser to the administrative development minister, said in an interview on Oct. 17.
About one fifth of Egypt's people live in poverty, according to the World Bank. The country's average per capita income of $1,300 puts it on a par with China and Ukraine. Egypt's poor live in the millions in slums including Bulaq Al-Dakrur in Cairo, a city of 17 million people and the largest in Africa.
The jobless rate is officially 10 percent. U.S. government estimates put the figure at about 20 percent.
Hanafi's improvised home has electricity, telephone and a television connected to a satellite dish on top of the tomb. The family brings water from a tap in an alley, where children, some barefoot, play, and a pile of garbage attracts chickens.
A neighbor, Mahmoud Afify, lives with his wife, son, sister, brother-in-law and niece in a tomb built 200 years ago.
Anything for a Loan
``I'll trade it all for a two-bedroom flat in any ordinary district if I get a bank loan,'' said the 51-year-old self employed carpenter in a Nov. 22 interview. When he worked at a company, ``I told nobody where I lived and I avoided making close friends so they don't ask to visit me.''
Egypt builds 75,000 low-cost homes per year, about 20 percent of what's needed to house newlyweds, empty the cemeteries and provide housing for those living in the worst slums over a period of 10 years, Mohamed Refai, head of the investment department at Cairo mortgage lender Development Co. for Real Estate Financing, said in an interview on Nov. 22.
The government will subsidize 500,000 low-cost homes over six years, the state-run Mortgage Finance Authority said on Nov 23. The plan is part of the electoral pledges Mubarak's, who won a fifth six-year term in September.
The country passed a law in 2001 authorizing the creation of non-state mortgage companies, leaving such lenders to meet demand fueled by an annual population growth rate of 2 percent.
Investment Opportunities
Hampered by the lack of a property register and proof of title deeds, the two companies ``haven't even used so far 10 percent of their paid up capital,'' Refai said.
The Development Co. has capital of 250 million pounds, while Cairo-based Egyptian Housing Finance Co., the mortgage arm of Egyptian American Bank, a unit of American Express Co., has capital of 50 million pounds.
Development Co. is looking into investment opportunities other than mortgage financing, such as government bonds and stocks, to use its capital, said Refai. Egyptian Housing Chief Executive Hala Bassiouni said the company has made enough loans ``to break even,'' in answers to questions received by fax.
Assuming a unit cost of 50,000 pounds for the 300,000 homes needed for Egypt's poorest people, the mortgage market will be worth at least 15 billion pounds, said Refai.
The 2001 mortgage law broke ground by allowing the lender to take back the property if the client defaults. Such a step is possible only if the property is attested in title deeds.
`Waste of Human Energy'
Issuing title deeds takes sometime years of paperwork at offices of the General Survey Authority and the finance and justice ministries.
``It's an obstacle course where one pays tips here and there,'' Asser Hamza, a partner at Cairo's Hamza & El Wazzan law firm, said in a Nov. 22 interview.
Nivine Abdelkader, a 39-year-old housewife, has spent a year trying to register a piece of land the family bought outside Cairo. ``I've been at different offices 40 times,'' she said on Nov. 21. ``It's crazy, a waste of human energy.''
The government intends to replace the real estate registration tax, now set at 3 percent of the estimated value, by a flat fee that will be below 1,000 Egyptian pounds, said the administrative development ministry's Abdelwahab.
In the case of a dispute over ownership without any claimant having title deeds, the courts most often rule in favor of the person occupying the property.
The Hanafi family doesn't expect such an issue.
``Nobody wants to live with the dead,'' said Hanafi's mother, Fatma Sanussi, 50, whose youngest child is a 12-year-old girl, Iman. ``All I wish is to see her and my children leave the cemetery before I die.''
quote:Originally posted by Pink Lily: Cairo's Poor, Living in Cemeteries, Depend on Mubarak for Homes
Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Ahmed Hanafi was born in a Cairo cemetery in 1975. He still lives there.
``We've got nowhere else to go,'' said Hanafi, speaking on Nov. 22 in the burial vault he shares with his mother, wife, four brothers, three sisters, two daughters and a niece.
Hanafi, a plumber who earns 25 Egyptian pounds ($4.50) a day, is among 300,000 people living among the tombstones in Egypt's capital. The lack of a functioning housing market makes it impossible for him to buy a home. Just 3 percent of real estate is registered, meaning there's no legal framework for most property to change hands. Egyptians buy houses with cash or loans from developers, who demand interest of at least 15 percent.
President Hosni Mubarak is pledging to subsidize low-cost homes and register all land within seven years to help reduce poverty. The registry, in a country where two mortgage lenders serve 72 million people, will make property available as a guarantee for loans and stimulate an economy the government says needs to create 700,000 jobs a year to reduce unemployment.
``Having a real mortgage market would be an important social and economic step forward,'' Wessam Mohie, a real estate analyst at Cairo-based investment bank EFG-Hermes Holding, said in an interview on Nov. 29.
Mortgage Market
Mubarak's plan would create a mortgage market worth at least 15 billion Egyptian pounds, according to government estimates. The value of unregistered real estate exceeds 60 billion pounds, Ashraf Abdelwahab, senior adviser to the administrative development minister, said in an interview on Oct. 17.
About one fifth of Egypt's people live in poverty, according to the World Bank. The country's average per capita income of $1,300 puts it on a par with China and Ukraine. Egypt's poor live in the millions in slums including Bulaq Al-Dakrur in Cairo, a city of 17 million people and the largest in Africa.
The jobless rate is officially 10 percent. U.S. government estimates put the figure at about 20 percent.
Hanafi's improvised home has electricity, telephone and a television connected to a satellite dish on top of the tomb. The family brings water from a tap in an alley, where children, some barefoot, play, and a pile of garbage attracts chickens.
A neighbor, Mahmoud Afify, lives with his wife, son, sister, brother-in-law and niece in a tomb built 200 years ago.
Anything for a Loan
``I'll trade it all for a two-bedroom flat in any ordinary district if I get a bank loan,'' said the 51-year-old self employed carpenter in a Nov. 22 interview. When he worked at a company, ``I told nobody where I lived and I avoided making close friends so they don't ask to visit me.''
Egypt builds 75,000 low-cost homes per year, about 20 percent of what's needed to house newlyweds, empty the cemeteries and provide housing for those living in the worst slums over a period of 10 years, Mohamed Refai, head of the investment department at Cairo mortgage lender Development Co. for Real Estate Financing, said in an interview on Nov. 22.
The government will subsidize 500,000 low-cost homes over six years, the state-run Mortgage Finance Authority said on Nov 23. The plan is part of the electoral pledges Mubarak's, who won a fifth six-year term in September.
The country passed a law in 2001 authorizing the creation of non-state mortgage companies, leaving such lenders to meet demand fueled by an annual population growth rate of 2 percent.
Investment Opportunities
Hampered by the lack of a property register and proof of title deeds, the two companies ``haven't even used so far 10 percent of their paid up capital,'' Refai said.
The Development Co. has capital of 250 million pounds, while Cairo-based Egyptian Housing Finance Co., the mortgage arm of Egyptian American Bank, a unit of American Express Co., has capital of 50 million pounds.
Development Co. is looking into investment opportunities other than mortgage financing, such as government bonds and stocks, to use its capital, said Refai. Egyptian Housing Chief Executive Hala Bassiouni said the company has made enough loans ``to break even,'' in answers to questions received by fax.
Assuming a unit cost of 50,000 pounds for the 300,000 homes needed for Egypt's poorest people, the mortgage market will be worth at least 15 billion pounds, said Refai.
The 2001 mortgage law broke ground by allowing the lender to take back the property if the client defaults. Such a step is possible only if the property is attested in title deeds.
`Waste of Human Energy'
Issuing title deeds takes sometime years of paperwork at offices of the General Survey Authority and the finance and justice ministries.
``It's an obstacle course where one pays tips here and there,'' Asser Hamza, a partner at Cairo's Hamza & El Wazzan law firm, said in a Nov. 22 interview.
Nivine Abdelkader, a 39-year-old housewife, has spent a year trying to register a piece of land the family bought outside Cairo. ``I've been at different offices 40 times,'' she said on Nov. 21. ``It's crazy, a waste of human energy.''
The government intends to replace the real estate registration tax, now set at 3 percent of the estimated value, by a flat fee that will be below 1,000 Egyptian pounds, said the administrative development ministry's Abdelwahab.
In the case of a dispute over ownership without any claimant having title deeds, the courts most often rule in favor of the person occupying the property.
The Hanafi family doesn't expect such an issue.
``Nobody wants to live with the dead,'' said Hanafi's mother, Fatma Sanussi, 50, whose youngest child is a 12-year-old girl, Iman. ``All I wish is to see her and my children leave the cemetery before I die.''
Darling the Baladi living in the Cemetaries have it much better than the ones living in squater communities outside Shubra and Baluq al Abu (sp?).
The Baladi in the cemetaries have more water spickets, access to jobs, medical clinics, a better network of informal peddling and odd jobs (for women), more space, safer and more consistent electricity, a measure of safety from police raids (since it is a cemetary police are weary of doing raids on solemn grounds), access to wealthier clientiele to work for, and there is a government iniative underway to supply sewer access and garbage collection to the squaters, let alone within blocks walk to government subsidy stores. Many of these tomb squaters are decendants of the people who are eternally resting there (according to anthropologists who have studied them).
No one is going to write articles about the truly unfortunate in Cairo because the authorities won't allow khawagaas access to these communities. And also because the government is in a real hurry to relocate squaters from protentially valuable nile-side real estate.
Posts: 5744 | From: Minneapolis, Mn USA | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
I have to agree with Sonomod. People living in the "Cities of the Dead" are a lot better off than those living in other informal areas like Manshiet Nasser or some areas of Masr Qadima. While I've never been in the "Cities of the Dead", what I've seen from the main road through that area doesn't look half as bad as areas in Masr Qadima or Manshiet Nasr (which I have visited). The cemetaries are a lot less crowded, the buildings are a lot more structurally sound, and there's a lot more open areas....That's not to say that living in the cemetaries is pleasant. Not at all. But there's a reason why GTZ (the German development agency) is working in Manshiet Nasr, and not the Cities of the Dead.....
Posts: 7 | From: Giza | Registered: Dec 2005
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No one is going to write articles about the truly unfortunate in Cairo because the authorities won't allow khawagaas access to these communities. And also because the government is in a real hurry to relocate squaters from protentially valuable nile-side real estate.
Not true ... u can go visit if u like. No one will stop u. The question is who really cares to write about them? Some reporters for a documentary on a third rate channel in Germany? So? It's no secret that a country like Egypt is being robbed blind by the government and those in bed with the government ... u don't need a documentary to tell u that.
Posts: 2049 | From: Canada | Registered: Nov 2005
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No one is going to write articles about the truly unfortunate in Cairo because the authorities won't allow khawagaas access to these communities. And also because the government is in a real hurry to relocate squaters from protentially valuable nile-side real estate.
Not true ... u can go visit if u like. No one will stop u. The question is who really cares to write about them? Some reporters for a documentary on a third rate channel in Germany? So? It's no secret that a country like Egypt is being robbed blind by the government and those in bed with the government ... u don't need a documentary to tell u that.
Actually all these slums mushroomed since Naser era , and the corruption was ever since,leaving the country to reach a hopeless stage or case. most of these slums were built on an agricultural land leaving Egypt now to plant in the desert or Toshka or what ever can yeil food . So how much money Egypt needs to fix this proplem ?????
Posts: 627 | Registered: Jul 2005
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No one is going to write articles about the truly unfortunate in Cairo because the authorities won't allow khawagaas access to these communities. And also because the government is in a real hurry to relocate squaters from protentially valuable nile-side real estate.
Not true ... u can go visit if u like. No one will stop u. The question is who really cares to write about them? Some reporters for a documentary on a third rate channel in Germany? So? It's no secret that a country like Egypt is being robbed blind by the government and those in bed with the government ... u don't need a documentary to tell u that.
Actually all these slums mushroomed since Naser era , and the corruption was ever since,leaving the country to reach a hopeless stage or case. most of these slums were built on an agricultural land leaving Egypt now to plant in the desert or Toshka or what ever can yeil food . So how much money Egypt needs to fix this proplem ?????
It would not be fair to blame it entirely on Nasser ... I am no fan of the guy, but at least he had a couple of wars to justify the deficit. Not to mention that he is surely not to blame for the poulation explosion that occurred in the past 50 years. The issue is much more complex, i am afraid.
And please, for the love of God don't mention Toshka to me ... generations to come will pay dearly for this egotistical ridicule of a project.
Posts: 2049 | From: Canada | Registered: Nov 2005
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No one is going to write articles about the truly unfortunate in Cairo because the authorities won't allow khawagaas access to these communities. And also because the government is in a real hurry to relocate squaters from protentially valuable nile-side real estate.
Not true ... u can go visit if u like. No one will stop u. The question is who really cares to write about them? Some reporters for a documentary on a third rate channel in Germany? So? It's no secret that a country like Egypt is being robbed blind by the government and those in bed with the government ... u don't need a documentary to tell u that.
Actually all these slums mushroomed since Naser era , and the corruption was ever since,leaving the country to reach a hopeless stage or case. most of these slums were built on an agricultural land leaving Egypt now to plant in the desert or Toshka or what ever can yeil food . So how much money Egypt needs to fix this proplem ?????
It would not be fair to blame it entirely on Nasser ... I am no fan of the guy, but at least he had a couple of wars to justify the deficit. Not to mention that he is surely not to blame for the poulation explosion that occurred in the past 50 years. The issue is much more complex, i am afraid.
And please, for the love of God don't mention Toshka to me ... generations to come will pay dearly for this egotistical ridicule of a project.
Sorry but i do blame Nasser for such crisis , i blame him for the scarcity of agricultural land,for the mushroom of slums, for the defeats of the 2 incredible wars, for slaughtering 70000 Egyptian soldiers in the mountains of yemen,and for the high dam.just a demagogue tyranny who started the worst occupation and fall of Egypt,
Posts: 627 | Registered: Jul 2005
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No one is going to write articles about the truly unfortunate in Cairo because the authorities won't allow khawagaas access to these communities. And also because the government is in a real hurry to relocate squaters from protentially valuable nile-side real estate.
Not true ... u can go visit if u like. No one will stop u. The question is who really cares to write about them? Some reporters for a documentary on a third rate channel in Germany? So? It's no secret that a country like Egypt is being robbed blind by the government and those in bed with the government ... u don't need a documentary to tell u that.
Actually all these slums mushroomed since Naser era , and the corruption was ever since,leaving the country to reach a hopeless stage or case. most of these slums were built on an agricultural land leaving Egypt now to plant in the desert or Toshka or what ever can yeil food . So how much money Egypt needs to fix this proplem ?????
It would not be fair to blame it entirely on Nasser ... I am no fan of the guy, but at least he had a couple of wars to justify the deficit. Not to mention that he is surely not to blame for the poulation explosion that occurred in the past 50 years. The issue is much more complex, i am afraid.
And please, for the love of God don't mention Toshka to me ... generations to come will pay dearly for this egotistical ridicule of a project.
Sorry but i do blame Nasser for such crisis , i blame him for the scarcity of agricultural land,for the mushroom of slums, for the defeats of the 2 incredible wars, for slaughtering 70000 Egyptian soldiers in the mountains of yemen,and for the high dam.just a demagogue tyranny who started the worst occupation and fall of Egypt,
The word "entirely" defined:-
entirely: Wholly. Solely or exclusively.
Posts: 2049 | From: Canada | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Sam on line: So let me add entirely, Wholly, Solely or exclusively.
no, u don't need to add it to yours ... u just needed not to overlook it in my post since u decided to quote it.
Posts: 2049 | From: Canada | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote:Originally posted by _Masrawi_: And please, for the love of God don't mention Toshka to me ... generations to come will pay dearly for this egotistical ridicule of a project.
Anybody, please, what is Toshka?
Posts: 4576 | From: Cairo | Registered: Jun 2002
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posted
With 95 percent of its population living on approximately five percent of the land, Egypt has launched a major national project, spearheaded by President Hosni Mubarak, to extend its development beyond the historical boundaries of the Nile Delta and into its southern desert region. The cornerstone of this urban and agricultural development effort is the South Valley Project, a plan to ultimately irrigate more than 500,000 acres of undeveloped desert land.
Since 1996, the government of Egypt has committed several billion dollars to the South Valley Project, retaining an international consortium to construct the necessary infrastructure needed to support an increased population, such as transportation corridors, electric utilities and social services. In addition, the government has nearly completed the region’s water delivery systems, which include the world’s largest water pumping station and the Sheikh Zayed Canal. Ultimately, the 43-mile (70 km) Sheikh Zayed Canal will divert water from Egypt’s Lake Nasser, the reservoir formed on the Nile River by the Aswan High Dam, and will convey more than seven million acre-feet of water annually, or more than 20,000 acre-feet a day. By comparison, the Colorado River Aqueduct, operated by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, conveys 1.3 million acre-feet per year.
The Sheikh Zayed Canal will convey water to the first of four South Valley sites beginning in 2001. With its infrastructure commitments nearly accomplished, the government of Egypt anticipates that private sector investments will reclaim the South Valley desert.
At the request of Egyptian President Mubarak, His Royal Highness Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud considered making a private, commercial investment in the development of the South Valley Project. His Royal Highness has an international reputation for making a series of successful investments in a rapidly increasing number of the world’s largest publicly traded companies.
His Royal Highness commissioned an independent project team that set out to determine the economic and technical feasibility of a large scale, export-oriented agricultural development. Upon concluding that a project of this magnitude was a commercially attractive business venture, the Kingdom Agricultural Development Company (KADCO), a company which is currently 100% controlled by His Royal Highness, purchased 100,000 acres from the government of Egypt and named it the Tushka Project. To date, KADCO has committed $300 million in equity to the development of the Tushka Project, one of the largest planned agricultural developments in the world.
The Tushka Project will grow high-value permanent crops, such as stone fruit, grapes and citrus, that will be imported into Europe and the Middle East.
In June 1999, California-based Sun World International, Inc. was selected after an exhaustive international search to serve as KADCO’s strategic partner in developing and managing the Tushka Project. As one of California's largest vertically integrated agricultural firms, Sun World specializes in desert farming, international marketing and the development and production of proprietary crops, all of which uniquely qualify it to lead this undertaking.
Sun World’s involvement in this project of international significance has added economic benefits for California’s business community. The large scale of the Tushka Project, an estimated $700-800 million undertaking, requires that Sun World utilize the expertise of California’s highly developed engineering, irrigation and nursery business sectors. It is anticipated that a number of California-based enterprises will receive contracts to assist in the development of the Tushka Project site.
------------------------------------- this project was started back in 1983. with waste of 482 Billions Egyptian pounds.
Posts: 817 | From: Egypt | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
Can you explain a bit more about why this project is being criticized...ok, I understand if the agricultural land hadn't been split up and used for housing there wouldn't have been the need for it, but given that a large amount of agricultural land has gone now, was there a better alternative?
Posts: 4576 | From: Cairo | Registered: Jun 2002
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quote:Originally posted by newcomer: Can you explain a bit more about why this project is being criticized...ok, I understand if the agricultural land hadn't been split up and used for housing there wouldn't have been the need for it, but given that a large amount of agricultural land has gone now, was there a better alternative?
The main concept of Tushka is fine ; but thats only for us to hear. and not the real thing happening. donations , sub-contracting , unknown amount of money for the sake of Tushka , bribes and bureaucracy.
the idea started since 1982 , and Anwar Al Sadat was the first to recommend it. and untill now there is no use of Tushka. the least i can say is there is no ROAD ,no transportation to get you to tushka and im talking about workers who should develop tushka.
Tushka could be a successful project but not under corrupted management.
Abd al-Aziz Ahmad, a senior Egyptian official in the State Hydropower Commission,generated a series of now-famous reports that raised questions about the long-term sustainability of the Aswan High Dam . Bureaucratic politics provide yet another and especially distorting element in this respect. Large organizations such as governments tend to form the tributary social organization . Government bureaucracies, for example, form a tributary system that collects resources to finance public works: just as water flows from a tributary stream into a lake,wealth (through taxes and interest payments) flows towards those bureaucracies or departments that create new projects. Control of water then becomes the institutional ability to develop new projects . Concomitantly, the way to seek rapid promotion within the dominant organization becomes the completion of a successful project; and often the grander such projects are, the better they are perceived by gate-keeping elites. This dynamic favors the alignment and suppression of negative information;under such circumstances, any statistics generated by powerful water boards are not necessarily reliable, and consultants are under pressure to conform to the wishes of the bureaucracy Thus, as the output of GIS depends both on the input and the questions underlying it,GIS represents the world in a way that reflects those interests. Depending on what gate-keeping elites want to show, they can manipulate their computer images to highlight and represent their image of reality.
Posts: 817 | From: Egypt | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
Think Cairo "International" Airport ... which cost just as much as some of the world's decent airports, but ended up being a disgrace. I personally like to refer to it as "The Toilet" ... u can't deny the similarities in the choice of ceramics and decorations.
Posts: 2049 | From: Canada | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Humanized: the idea started since 1982 , and Anwar Al Sadat was the first to recommend it. and untill now there is no use of Tushka. the least i can say is there is no ROAD ,no transportation to get you to tushka and im talking about workers who should develop tushka.
Tushka could be a successful project but not under corrupted management.
Is this still the case then with all the foreign investment too? Are they not questioning what is happening to their money?!
Posts: 4576 | From: Cairo | Registered: Jun 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Humanized: the idea started since 1982 , and Anwar Al Sadat was the first to recommend it. and untill now there is no use of Tushka. the least i can say is there is no ROAD ,no transportation to get you to tushka and im talking about workers who should develop tushka.
Tushka could be a successful project but not under corrupted management.
Is this still the case then with all the foreign investment too? Are they not questioning what is happening to their money?!
What foreign investments?! Or are u referring to the donations that were given by foreign businessmen in order to soothe Mubarak's ego ... and later be refunded in the form of tax breaks and discounted government land prices?
Posts: 2049 | From: Canada | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Humanized: the idea started since 1982 , and Anwar Al Sadat was the first to recommend it. and untill now there is no use of Tushka. the least i can say is there is no ROAD ,no transportation to get you to tushka and im talking about workers who should develop tushka.
Tushka could be a successful project but not under corrupted management.
Is this still the case then with all the foreign investment too? Are they not questioning what is happening to their money?!
What foreign investments?! Or are u referring to the donations that were given by foreign businessmen in order to soothe Mubarak's ego ... and later be refunded in the form of tax breaks and discounted government land prices?
The question was based on what was written in the article Humanized gave...it looked like outsiders were getting more involved than just paying out the cash!
Posts: 4576 | From: Cairo | Registered: Jun 2002
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posted
Yes like Masrawi said - they were donations. and the famous names were Shiekh Zaied and Al walid bin talal.
Posts: 817 | From: Egypt | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:Originally posted by newcomer: Is this still the case then with all the foreign investment too? Are they not questioning what is happening to their money?!
Foreign donations were reduced dramatically since 1991. US AID also was reduced from 2.5 Billions $ to 1.3 Billions $ (you can check the numbers in US-AID annual report)
Posts: 817 | From: Egypt | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:Originally posted by newcomer: Is this still the case then with all the foreign investment too? Are they not questioning what is happening to their money?!
Foreign donations were reduced dramatically since 1991. US AID also was reduced from 2.5 Billions $ to 1.3 Billions $ (you can check the numbers in US-AID annual report)
I was referring to what you said in the article above as it appeared that the investment in Tushka was practical too, but apparently not. Has anyone given any alternative to the scheme, or are they waiting until a new Agriculture Minister comes in...didn't I hear that Yusuf Wali lost his seat?
Regarding your new information, I hadn't heard that US AID had been reduced in the past, but I did hear that it has now been tied to political change...I wonder whether the recent elections will have any effect on it?
Posts: 4576 | From: Cairo | Registered: Jun 2002
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quote:Originally posted by newcomer: I was referring to what you said in the article above as it appeared that the investment in Tushka was practical too, but apparently not. Has anyone given any alternative to the scheme, or are they waiting until a new Agriculture Minister comes in...didn't I hear that Yusuf Wali lost his seat?
Regarding your new information, I hadn't heard that US AID had been reduced in the past, but I did hear that it has now been tied to political change...I wonder whether the recent elections will have any effect on it?
I take it u don't live in Egypt ...
Posts: 2049 | From: Canada | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote:Originally posted by _Masrawi_: I take it u don't live in Egypt ...
You take it wrong! As my username indicates I am a relative newcomer here and after a period of adjustment, trying to cope with the day-to-day challenges of living here, I am now trying to fill in a lot of gaps in my knowledge about what is happening behind the scenes. So please pardon what may seem to be naive questions and be patient in trying to help me fill in the gaps!
Posts: 4576 | From: Cairo | Registered: Jun 2002
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