Cairo: Like many of Egypt’s casual workers, Farhat Abdul Khaleq is not interested in politics. For the 49-year-old man, the top priority is to earn enough money to support his family of six.
At day-break, Abdul Khaleq leaves his house in the Cairo working-class district of Ein Shams and heads for the upscale Nasr City in east Cairo where he joins other construction workers waiting to be hired by contractors or owners of new houses for temporary assignments. Nasr City is located in the vicinity of new communities on the outskirts of the Egyptian capital.
“I must be there as early as possible if I want to eat eish (bread),” Abdul Khaleq says, using a common Egyptian term, referring to a livelihood.
“Usually contractors and owners of apartments come to the market in order to haggle with us for doing jobs such as breaking floor tiles to be replaced by new ones or carrying construction materials up and down stairs in return for some money.”
Abdul Khaleq, who originally hails from a village in Upper Egypt, says things have not improved in recent years.
“We can stay in the [hiring] market for long hours without getting a customer. We work on a day-to-day basis,” he adds in a dialect typical of Upper Egyptians.
“Our situation has become worse after the revolution against Mubarak,” he says, referring to a 2011 uprising that forced long-time president Hosni Mubarak to resign.
The now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood ruled Egypt after Mubarak. In mid-2013, the army- then led by incumbent President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi- toppled Islamist president Mohammad Mursi of the Brotherhood following mass protests against his rule.
“Mubarak went. Ikhwan [Brotherhood] came and went. Then Al Sissi has come, but our situation has not improved,” Abdul Khaleq, with a face scorched by the sun, told Gulf News.
“The poor have no one to protect in this country. Where is the social justice with which they have given us a headache?“
Social justice was one of the slogans chanted by thousands of Egyptians during their 18-day protests that culminated in Mubarak’s ouster on February 11, 2011.
“Poor people like us are the ones who have paid the price for all the chaos that the country has witnessed since then,” says Hamouda Fouad, a colleague of Abdul Khaleq.
“The economy has deteriorated, leaving us without work most of the days. Even though, prices of everything have increased. The only thing that has not increased is the price of man.”
Last November, Egypt floated its currency and partially lifted state subsidy on fuel as part of tough economic reforms, steps that secured the country a $12-billion loan over a period of three years. The measures have resulted in a spate of price hikes amid public discontent.
“The pound has sunken and dragged us with it down to the sea-bed,” Fouad, clad in a flowing jallabiyah gown, says sarcastically. “This was the last thing we needed. We are people standing at God’s door. We have neither social nor medical insurance. Our children will starve if we fall sick or become unable to get work that depends on physical strength.”
Around 27.8 per cent of Egypt’s 92 million people live under the poverty line, according to official figures.
The country’s inflation surged to 23.3 per cent last month, the highest rate in eight years.
In 2014, the government implemented a court ruling, passed in the Mubarak era, setting a minimum monthly wage of 1,200 Egyptian pounds (Dh240) for all workers having a permanent job.
However, employees complain that their wages cannot cope with a wave of price hikes, propelled by the recent sharp decline in the value of the local pound.
Al Sissi’s government says social justice tops its agenda.
Last week, the Ministry of Social Solidarity disclosed it is working on a draft bill aimed at expanding the social insurance base. The draft is to be completed in two months and submitted to the parliament for approval.
In attempts to cushion the impact of the currency flotation on limited-income earners, the government increased the monthly value of food subsidy offered to ration card holders from 15 Egyptian pounds (Dh3) to 21 Egyptian pounds per person.
It also announced expanding a recently created state programme providing cash support to reach 7.3 million needy people.
In recent months, Al Sissi, who took office in 2014, has opened a string of housing schemes for the poor as part of an ambitious plan to relocate dwellers of slums.
Government critics, however, say these steps have not brought social and economic parities within reach.
“Social justice has other aspects,” said Karima Al Hefnawy, a prominent pro-democracy campaigner and a member of the Egyptian Socialist Party.
“The concept of social justice means bringing prices under control to save people from greedy traders. It also means better utilisation of resources, fair distribution of wealth and development fruits, efficient public services and rehousing all the underprivileged people from slums,” she told Gulf News.
