CAIRO: A protest at the Journalists' Syndicate Saturday night for the Duweiqa disaster directed its ire at the government for its lack of accountability as well as the marginalization of civil society and journalists in the area. Mohamed Abdel-Quddous, head of the freedoms committee at the Journalists' Syndicate, began proceedings by saying, "The protest will be in order to call for the accountability of officials. Until now, no one has been held accountable; it's as if nothing happened. "They have closed the area to civil society groups and journalists. The National Democratic Party wants to monopolize the offering of services with civil society activists not permitted in the area, he added. Before the protest took place, several speakers from various fields spoke about the disaster which has killed at least 82 people when a number of large boulders slid off the cliff of Moqattam crushing the houses below. Also in attendance were residents of Duweiqa itself. Hamdy Abdel-Aal, a resident speaking on their behalf said, "They told us to leave, but gave us nowhere to go. We have children, women and old people. Can they survive in the streets in the cold? We don't have an official who is willing to lift a finger. Currently we have complete chaos in Manshiyet Nasser. People of that particular area were due to have been relocated to new apartment blocks built specifically for that purpose in a project launched by First Lady Suzanne Mubarak and funded entirely by a grants from Gulf countries. "As for the flats we were supposed to relocate to, Abdel-Aal said, "21 were given to government officials as gifts to facilitate their interests. Another 45 flats were taken by the Interior Ministry. As for the rest, 95 percent were given to people from other areas, not from Manshiyet Nasser. Geologist Yehia Qandeel said, "What happened doesn't need an expert to explain. When sewage flows through the cracks in the rocks that the Moqqatam mountain is composed off, this creates an expansion and the rocks at the edges - having been expanded - simply succumb to the law of gravity and fall. "If you look at Duweiqa specifically, you will find the cliff is steep, almost at a right angle of 90 degrees, and not a more gradual incline thus making the rocks more susceptible to falling, he added. Security forces have closed off not just the disaster site itself, but the entire shantytown to journalists and anyone else who isn't a resident of the area. Samy Diab, representing civil society, said, "Carelessness led to the people's death and we won't let this pass. This is not a natural disaster, but a disaster of the corrupt state. He added, "Paying LE 5,000 to the victims is insulting to the Egyptian citizen. The life of the Egyptian is worth this amount, he said cynically, ridiculing the official number the government has set as compensation to disaster victims, which reflects how invaluable citizens are to the state. "And we should not accept that. The Mufti said it should be LE 1 million. The protest was conducted after the speeches on the steps of the syndicate as security forces cordoned off the entrance of the building. "We have tried to address this problem for a long time with all types of officials and what was the result? The council has conducted its affairs in a chaotic manner, Abdel-Aal said. "A geologist who was brought in said the rocks on the edge of the mountain were moving, so we told the deputy governor that the houses on the hill were at risk. Unfortunately the officials know that Manshiyet Nasser is a shantytown and no one is interested in the people living there because they are poor, he added.
