• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

THURSDAY 27 FEBRUARY 2014 • [email protected] • www.thepeninsulaqatar.com • 4455 7741 inside Indian Indie films: CAMPUS • Qatar Academy Small, but not hosts Emirati Manga author inconsequential P | 4 P | 8-9 SCIENCE • Trying to save a rare poison frog P | 6 BOOKS • I am Malala: The struggle EGYPT’S for education SMART CARDS P | 7 HEALTH • Vegetarian diets may lower FOR BREAD blood pressure P | 11 TECHNOLOGY • BlackBerry, Motorola and Nokia search for lost glory P | 12 A device resembling a credit card swiper is revolutionising some of Learn Arabic Egypt’s politically explosive bread lines • Learn commonly used Arabic words and may help achieve the impossible and their meanings — cutting crippling food import bills. P | 13 2 PLUS | THURSDAY 27 FEBRUARY 2014 COVER STORY The financial miracle for age-old problem of Egypt’s food subsidy By Maggie Fick be bought for dollars on international markets. device resembling a Profiteers exploit the system, and credit card swiper is many people feed bread to their live- revolutionising some of stock because it is cheaper than animal Egypt’s politically explo- feed. sive bread lines and may Yet, one cash-strapped government Ahelp achieve the impossible — cutting after another has resisted attacking crippling food import bills. the problem, fearful that cutting sub- Authorities who hope to avoid pro- sidies could be political suicide. tests over subsidised loaves sold for the President Anwar Sadat triggered equivalent of one US cent have turned riots when he cut the bread subsidy in to smart cards to try to manage the 1977, while President Hosni Mubarak corrupt and wasteful bread supply faced unrest in 2008 when the rising chain that has been untouchable for price of wheat caused shortages. decades. When Egyptians rose up against If it succeeds, the pilot project in the Mubarak’s rule three years ago, one Suez Canal city of Port Said could be of their signature chants was: “Bread, used as a model for food and fuel sub- freedom and social justice.” sidy reform throughout Egypt, where bread, known in the local Arabic dia- Taking a Chance on Port Said lect as “life”, is the staple. Before he was deposed by the army “This is an urgent project,” said last July, President Mohamed Mursi Dr Ali Attria, an official from the and his Muslim Brotherhood began Administrative Development Ministry working to ensure that bread was who has helped manage the trial. delivered efficiently to those who truly Egypt, the world’s largest importer need it, a move designed to win over of wheat, purchases around 10 mil- the public. lion tonnes a year, draining its hard Distrustful of state bureaucracy, the currency reserves to provide the poor Mursi administration relied on mainly with a disc-shaped loaf. Islamist non-governmental organisa- The government spends around tions to clean up the bread mess. $5bn a year on food subsidies, which They decided to take a gamble, how- also cover items such as rice, oil and ever, and use government authorities sugar. A slide in the Egyptian pound’s in Port Said. Mursi is now in jail but value since December 2012 is push- the programme is starting to yield ing up the bill, as much food has to results. PLUS | THURSDAY 27 FEBRUARY 2014 3 At a simple metal kiosk in front of subsidized goods such as rice and his smart card readers and allocates The Supplies Minister recently an oven, a smart card scanner hangs sugar. his daily flour supply accordingly. estimated that the food subsidies bill on a wall between windows that open Smart card-holders are allowed five Customers seem satisfied. amounts to 35bn Egyptian pounds onto two orderly gender-segregated loaves per family member per day, a “We like systems, and we want ($5.03bn) per year. lines. Those who have complaints about number officials hope can be reduced. things to be organised so there can be Surprisingly, the smart card effort the new system can call a hotline. A parallel effort to issue smart cards security and everyone can get their in Port Said has not provoked protest The scene was unthinkable just a to drivers in order to monitor fuel con- fair share,” said Baseema El Bani, a among consumers or resistance from year ago. sumption is not yet operational, but is 55-year-old government employee. bakers who stood to profit from the “There was congestion, people were likewise aimed at gathering data the After presenting her green plastic old system. coming from outside Port Said to buy government can refer to when drafting card in a transaction that resembled Implementing the programme our good bread in bulk,” said bakery co- its subsidy reform policies. purchasing a latte at a coffeeshop, Bani nationwide would be a daunting task. owner Adel Hassan Shater, 63, refer- Army chief Field Marshal Abdel folded her stack of loaves and placed Attria of the Administrative ring to a once thriving black market. Fattah Al Sisi, who ousted Mursi them in a shopping bag. Development Ministry cites bureauc- “Now things are organised and this after mass protests against his rule, is Before the “smart card” system was racy as the chief hurdle. is better for everyone.” expected to run for president and win introduced, the bakery would often run Port Said, known nationally for its The now year-old programme in in elections due within months. out of loaves by midday, before the high quality bread, was seen as a safe this city of 650,000 has enabled the Even if Sisi, who became immensely mother of five got off work, leaving her site for a pilot. But progress here should government to keep tabs on individual popular after crushing Mursi’s Muslim empty handed. still be considered an achievement. consumption of bread via the elec- Brotherhood, delivers on his promises of Bani blamed the shortages not on “It is a difficult decision to change tronic cards, already used for other bringing elections and political stability low supplies, but on people who abused the bread subsidy system, but it is pos- to Egypt, he will still have to carefully the system. sible,” said Dr Magdy El Hennawy, an manage the sensitive bread issue. The The government, short on foreign ex-army officer who helped the gov- top military commander could showcase currency and in dire need of fuel ernment launch the nationwide smart the Port Said project and spread it to imports, cannot afford to keep fund- card system for other commodities. other cities in the country of 85 million ing the inefficient system. Reuters where poverty is widespread. Safwat Emar, the top Supplies Ministry official in Port Said, said that At a simple metal the project is hitting the people at the kiosk in front of an heart of the problem: dishonest bakers. oven, a smart card Black Market scanner hangs on But eradicating greed will not be easy in a country plagued by corruption. a wall between Bakers producing state-subsidised windows that open loaves siphon off flour provided by the onto two orderly government and make a killing in the black market. gender-segregated The government’s flour is then baked lines. Those who into loaves sold at private bakeries at prices beyond the reach of the poor. have complaints Bakers have long been able to cheat about the new authorities because consumption data is hard to come by. system can call a At Port Said’s Freedom Bakery, hotline. owner Mahmoud El Kefery says he works closely with government moni- tors who check data registered by 4 PLUS | THURSDAY 27 FEBRUARY 2014 CAMPUS Qatar Academy hosts Emirati Manga author ward-winning author Qais Sedki visited Qatar Academy to share his journey and passion for writing, creativity and follow- Aing ones dream. Sedki wrote the Gold Ring, the first ever manga graphic novel in Arabic, after leaving a successful career in information technology. In 2010, he won the prestigious Sheikh Zayed Book Award under the Children’s Literature category, the first time it was given to a literary work from the comic genre. Meeting with various students from Primary to Senior School and also with teachers, library special- ists and parents throughout the day, Sedki discussed manga in general and Arabic literature for today’s generation. He relates that literature — manga in particular — allows us to “learn about the little intricacies of a culture”. For instance, he says, some Asians believe that when a person sneezes, somebody is thinking about that person. Similarly, the Arab culture has its own set of beliefs and practices that the region can share to the world. “I want people to understand that we share a lot in common. There’s a lot of similarities between Arabs and the rest of the world and there are also certain things that I think we pride ourselves in,” Sedki explains. “For instance, I think the social fabric is still very closely knit in the region. So in the illustrations it is a literary work with a local and global appeal. and publishing online their very own graphic novels. in the series, we see the main character kissing his “Part of the message that I wanted to say (through Both are inspired by Sedki and believe that there is a mother’s forehead out of respect. This is something the novel) is that it’s very important for us to tell growing interest and talent in Qatar and the region we do very regularly and I think if we don’t actively our children, our own Arab youth that we have our for this modern literature.

Load more

  15

Copy Link