Monday, Sep 21, 2015
Cairo: Traffic on a major road encircling the Egyptian capital was blocked for two hours on Monday after dozens of angry residents blocked the route protesting frequent water cuts.
Footage on local TV stations showed long lines of cars stuck on the Cairo Ring Road after the protesters from Giza, the twin city of Cairo, blocked it with blazing tyres. Senior police officers rushed to the location and convinced protesters of reopening the road, state media reported.
Newly-appointed Prime Minister Sharif Esmail ordered the government to move swiftly to solve the problem in Giza, the site of world-famed Pyramids.
The Interior Ministry called the protest illegal. “The way the people expressed their anger by blocking the road and setting tyres on fire was unlawful, “the ministry’s spokesman Abu Bakr Abdul Karim said. “There are legal ways to file complaints about such problems,” he told private broadcaster ONTV
Khalid Gareeb, a local rights activist, said that Giza residents have repeatedly complained about frequent water cuts. “But their complaints have drawn no action.”
The government-run Holding Water Company has attributed the shortage in water supplies in Giza to what it called the city’s large population and expansive informal housing there.
Giza, which extends for 1,579 square kilometres, has a population of around 7.4 million, being second to Cairo where 9.1 million live, according to a 2014 census.
Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country of around 87 million, has seen several protests over water cuts in recent years.
It was not clear if arrests were made in Monday’s protest.
Under a controversial 2013 law, public rallies and protests are banned without prior permission from police. Thousands of Islamists and secular activists have since been arrested and jailed for holding unauthorised protests. The law was issued months after the army deposed Islamist president Mohammad Mursi following enormous street protests against his rule.
By Ramadan Al Sherbini Correspondent
Gulf News 2015. All rights reserved.
