Archive for Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif

Govt scheme aims to increase Sinai population through land reclamation

by admin
October 29th, 2012

 

The government has slated 80,000 feddans of land near Al Salam Canal in Sinai for auction, to be exclusively bid on by Sinai residents.

Prime Minister Hesham Qandil announced the plan on Monday as part of government efforts to increase Sinai’s population to 3 million within five years. Official sources at the Ministry of Agriculture said that the government also intends to expand agricultural and tourism projects in the area, and initiate the cultivation of 400,000 feddans that have been unused since work on the Al Salam Canal project was halted in 2006 under former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif.

The Cabinet stipulates that in order to acquire land in Sinai, applicants must provide documents from the Interior Ministry and a civil registry proving both they and their parents hold only Egyptian nationality.

Sources said the ministry is also taking steps to legalize certain squatter settlements in Sinai in order to increase the scale of land reclamation.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

Tags: , , , , ,
Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
Comments (0)

Ain ​​Sokhna port strike ends

by admin
October 24th, 2012

Ain Sokhna Port workers and DP World have reached to an agreement to resume work in the port, which has been shut down for 14 days.

State-run news agency MENA said that efforts made by presidential legal adviser Mohamed Fouad Gadallah, Suez Governor Samir Ejlan, head of Suez Security Directorate Adel Refaat and Secretary General of the Freedom and Justice Party in Suez Ahmed Mahmoud were integral in ending the standoff.

DP world officials and union representatives met inside the port, with Manpower Ministry adviser Nahed al-Ashry in attendance.

Refaat said that everyone is looking forward to work resuming normally.

Under the terms of the agreement, the company’s lawyers will question dismissed workers while a neutral committee follows up on the investigations.

The port workers went on strike to protest the unreasonable dismissal of eight of their colleagues. DP World said the workers were dismissed as punishment for offenses they committed.

Ain Sokhna, near the southern end of the Suez Canal, is Cairo's main port for cargo from the Far East.

DP World signed an agreement with former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif in October 2007 that granted the company exclusive rights to run the port until 2032. DP World is the third largest port operator in the world.

Labor action forced DP World to temporarily shut down the port in February.

Edited translation from MENA

Tags: , , , , ,
Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
Comments (0)

Suez prosecution interrogates Ain Sokhna striking workers

by admin
October 18th, 2012

Suez prosecutor summoned Ain Sokhna Port workers, including unionists, for interrogation on Thursday regarding Dubai Ports World accusations that they incited a strike costing the company LE40 million in five days.

Two hundred workers staged a protest at the port in solidarity with their colleagues.

Hisham Mubarak Rights Organization and a number of independent unions also declared their support of the workers as they continued their strike into the seventh day.  

Unionist Ali Selim stressed that he and his colleagues were surprised by the charges and by being summoned for interrogation. He stated that the workers had themselves filed a claim against DP World 11 days before the company submitted its complaint.

Selim said that the company was in violation of an agreement with the Ministry of Manpower, and had fired several employees without cause.

Media advisor at Dubai Ports, Nash'at al-Daihy, said they were not happy about pressing charges, but the company had lost LE40 million, while the state losses amounted to LE90 million for failure to collect customs duties and other revenues.

"I appeal to the workers to put the higher interests of their company, port and homeland above all else," Daihy said.

He said the workers were victims of powers seeking to destroy the Egyptian economy.

Ain Sokhna, near the southern end of the Suez Canal, is Cairo's main port for cargo from the Far East.

DP World signed an agreement with former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif in October 2007 that granted the company exclusive rights to run the port until 2032. DP World is the third largest port operator in the world.

Labor action forced DP World to temporarily shut down Ain Sokhna Port in February.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm 

Tags: , , , ,
Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
Comments (0)

DP World sues striking workers

by admin
October 16th, 2012

Dubai Ports World, the company operating the Ain Sokhna port, filed charges against striking workers on Monday, accusing them of costing the company LE40 million in just five days.

The majority of losses accrued came from fines by shipping companies. The company claimed the losses also harm the Egyptian economy.

The workers responded by saying they would continue the strike until eight of their colleagues, who they say were fired arbitrarily, return to their jobs.

The shipping line department issued a statement stating that the strike also harms other parties, such as shipping companies, transport companies and clearance agencies.

Ain Sokhna, near the southern end of the Suez Canal, is Cairo's main port for cargo from the Far East. 

DP World signed an agreement with former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif in October 2007 that granted the company exclusive rights to run the port until 2032. DP World is the third largest port operator in the world.

Labor action forced DP World to temporarily shut down the Ain Sokhna port in February.

Edited translation from MENA

Tags: , , , , ,
Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
Comments (0)

Nile University crisis to end within hours, says minister

by admin
September 15th, 2012

 

Minister of Higher Education Mostafa Mossad said Saturday afternoon that a solution for the Nile University and Zewail City for Science and Technology crisis would be announced in a statement by the Ministry of Higher Education within hours.

He added that some legal aspects were being reviewed before the solution would be announced.

After meeting with the Education Development Fund, Mossad said in a press conference Saturday that a ministerial committee has been examining the crisis for two weeks and the details would be announced in the statement.

Prime Minister Hesham Qandil recently held a meeting with Nobel laureate Ahmed Zewail to discuss the crisis ahead of the new academic year.

The Cabinet formed a ministerial committee to study the crisis between Nile University and Zewail City of Science and Technology last month after Nile University students staged protests inside the Zewail City of Science and Technology demanding that the campus remain in Zewail City, where many of its expensive laboratories remain unused.

Nile University was established on land originally allocated for the Zewail City of Science and Technology project in 2000 under the government of former Prime Minister Atef Ebed.

The state-owned newspaper Al-Akhbar said that former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif allocated the same plot of land to the Nile University project in 2006. Nazif's move had been criticized as an effort to counter Zewail's popularity, a crucial matter for the regime of ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

After the 25 January revolution, the government of Prime Minister Essam Sharaf allocated the land to Zewail City and relocated Nile University, whose campus had already been built on that land, to Smart Village.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

Tags: , , , , , ,
Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
Comments (0)

Nile University crisis still unresolved, says board chairman

by admin
September 13th, 2012

 

Abdel Aziz Hegazy, chairman of the Nile University Board of Trustees, on Thursday said that the ministerial committee recently formed to solve the land dispute between Nile University and Zewail City for Science and Technology has failed.

Hegazy said he would ask President Mohamed Morsy to intervene directly in the matter.

Prime Minister Hesham Qandil’s Cabinet formed the committee at the end of August to find a resolution to the conflict between the two universities.

According to the state-owned newspaper Al-Akhbar, in 2006 former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif gave a plot of land over to Nile University that had had been designated for the Zewail City of Science and Technology project in 2000.

After the 25 January revolution, however, Prime Minister Essam Sharaf granted the land back to Zewail City and moved Nile University over to Smart Village, despite the fact that the Nile University campus was already built and ready for use.

Nile University students stormed the contested campus in late August and held a sit-in, demanding to be allowed to use the facilities and labs. The protesters attracting the support of the student unions of the American, British and German universities in Cairo.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm 

Tags: , , , ,
Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
Comments (0)

Lawyer sues Mubarak over tainted wheat imports

by admin
September 4th, 2012

Al-Sayyed Hamed, a lawyer and member of the freedoms committee at the Lawyers Syndicate, has filed a suit with the Attorney General accusing former President Hosni Mubarak and other officials of killing Egyptians through the importation of spoiled wheat.

Hamed told state television’s website that his suit was filed against Mubarak, former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, former Minister of Agriculture Youssef Wali, and the heads of companies that import wheat. He said he accuses them of mass murder because of their intent and complicity to spread diseases among the Egyptian people.

According to Hamed’s suit, wheat imported under Mubarak's rule was expired and infected by fungus, leading to serious illness. Companies with connections to the former regime were responsible for importing the wheat.

Hamed added that the tainted wheat caused dozens of Egyptians to suffer diseases including cancer, kidney failure and hepatitis.

Hamed also demanded that all hospitals submit the numbers of Egyptians who had suffered from the aforementioned diseases during the former regime.

The crisis regarding the importation of spoiled wheat first surfaced in 2008 and 2009. According to the state-run Middle East News Agency, the Egyptian judiciary is currently considering a case against businessman Hesham al-Atal, who was accused by a former MP of importing spoiled wheat from Russia through the port of Alexandria.

Tags: , , , ,
Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
Comments (0)

Committee formed on Zewail City crisis; students storm campus

by admin
August 29th, 2012

The Cabinet has formed a ministerial committee to study the crisis between Nile University and Zewail City of Science and Technology, said Minister of Higher Education Mostafa al-Sayed Mossad in a statement Wednesday.

The committee held a meeting Tuesday to discuss the issue and would hold more meetings until the problem is solved, Mossad added, stressing that the committee will remain in session until they reach a solution that maintains the stability of Nile University and preserves the interests of the students.

Nile University was established on land originally allocated for the Zewail City of Science and Technology project in 2000 under the government of former Prime Minister Atef Ebed.

The state-owned newspaper Al-Akhbar says that former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif allocated the same plot of land to the Nile University project in 2006.

Nazif's move had been criticized as an effort to counter Zewail's popularity, a crucial matter for the regime of the ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

After the 25 January revolution, the government of Prime Minister Essam Sharaf allocated the land to Zewail City and relocated Nile University, whose campus had already been built on that land, to Smart Village.

Nile University students staged protests on Tuesday inside the Zewail City of Science and Technology and announced an open-ended sit-in demanding that the campus remain in Zewail City, where many of its expensive laboratories are not being used by students.

The students clashed with security officers when the officers tried to prevent their entry.

“All we need is to be able to use the city labs,” said Ahmed Nassar, president of the Nile University Student Union.

Nile University President Tareq Khalil has said the labs still belong to the university.

The student unions of the American, British and German universities in Cairo issued a joint statement in solidarity with the students, calling Nile University “the first research university that proved excellence despite mounting difficulties in the last few years.”

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

Tags: , , , , , ,
Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
Comments (0)

​​Sokhna Port workers hold managers hostage

by admin
June 27th, 2012

About 600 workers at the Ain ​​Sokhna Port on Tuesday staged an open-ended protest against what they said was a failure to disburse the 2011 profits, which was promised by the management company, Dubai Ports World.

They say they are holding six of the company’s managers hostage until their demands are met. “The company has postponed disbursement from April to September,” said Ashraf Eissa, member of the workers syndicate.

Workers at Ain Sokhna seaport staged a five-day strike in February to demand an increase in their profit share and risk payment.

International maritime port operator DP World said on 19 February that the workers ended their strike after reaching an agreement. The company said that the strike resulted in losses estimated at LE50 million.

DP World signed an agreement with former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif in October 2007 that granted the company exclusive rights to run the port until 2032.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

Tags: , , , , ,
Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
Comments (0)

Anti-graft authority to refer Mubarak family to criminal court

by admin
June 3rd, 2012

The Illicit Gains Authority will refer former President Hosni Mubarak and his immediate family back to criminal court once it receives reports being prepared by Justice Ministry experts on their wealth, the authority head said Sunday.

Assem al-Gohary, the assistant justice minister and head of the authority, said he expected to receive the reports next week, which detail the amount of money gained by the former president, his wife Suzanne, and his two sons Gamal and Alaa while he was president. The case should then be transferred to the criminal court system, at which charges are expected to be brought against the four for illegal accumulation of wealth.

Mubarak and former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly were sentenced to life in prison on Saturday for failing to stop the killing of protesters during the 18-day uprising in early 2011. However, the court acquitted six former security officials of the same charges citing lack of evidence.

The public prosecutor lodged an appeal on Sunday against the acquittal of the six officials and banned them from traveling, the prosecutor's assistant said.

Gohary was quoted by state-owned news agency MENA as saying that if the Illicit Gains Authority approves the referral of any accused Mubarak family members or other defendants to criminal court on charges related to illicit gains, the authority will ask the court to find them guilty of 15 years imprisonment and return the funds they accumulated, plus a fine equal to that amount.

Last October, Gohary said the investigations into Mubarak’s illegal wealth showed that his two sons reportedly have US$340 million in Swiss bank accounts.

Gohary said the authority also requested a quick report on the wealth accumulated by other Mubarak regime figures, such as former People’s Assembly Speaker Ahmed Fathi Sorour, former Shura Council Speaker Safwat al-Sherif and former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, as well as a number of other officials.

Tags: , ,
Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
Comments (0)
Next Page »