Yesterday I was shocked to find a photo in Al Dostor newspaper’s first page for kids inside the rare birds cage in the Giza Zoo !! One of these kids was carrying a very rare peacock in his hand as if he was holding a chicken or something !! Terrible photos and terrible start for the morning after being sick for the past 2 day !!
The report spoke also about the poor salaries of the guards who can’t protect the cages from similar attacks , after all they take only about LE 240 monthly /LE 8 per day “ $44 per month/$1.45 per day !!” , how will they protect the cages !!??
The newspaper goes today with its reports on that black day in the Zoo with experts warning that the day will come and we will find lions roaming in our streets !!?? Not to mention the diseases the animals they will transfer !! Strangely the Zoo had much more animals in the past and they did not transfer any disease to anyone !!??
Honestly I do not know why I feel or I smell a conspiracy theory in this scandal !!?? Why do I feel that this may deliberately take place so the ministry of agriculture has to close the Giza Zoo in front of the visitors and transfer the animals to 6th of October , keeping parts of the Zoo which will be a garden as a national heritage and the cages area will be sold to the private sector like the original plan. Believe me it is not my conspiracy theory mind but there are many signs that make me predict this , after all from couple of weeks ago I found a writer in Al Ahram , in the second page “Not Ahmed Bahget Nor Said Ali” calling for an immediate transfer to the animals for some open area in 6th of October !! This was in Official Al Ahram , of course when it appears in unofficial Al Dostor even indirectly it could be more convincing for the people !!
Back to the main incident , the Zoo always suffer in Eid because the wrong practices of the people which are permitted by the Zoo administration in order to get more income but this for sure was totally unacceptable , if we put the conspiracy theory aside , I do understand why those boys acted in so inhuman way , they are not raised nor taught to respect other creatures , even other humans , where is the ministry of education ?? Where is the family ?? And more important why did those who were watching did not stop those boys from getting in to the cages !!??
In all my visits to the Zoo in the past I have never seen something like that but may be this was in the past. Man I feel too old !!
I asked Mrs.Dina Zulfikar in an email about her opinion regarding the incident and the fact that the guards get very small salaries and she told me that the incident was just any other attack on our public attractions resulted from the lack of guards ; and the lack of guards is caused by the the small salaries and allowances which are determined by the ministry of finance.
I disagree about the role of the ministry of finance because both the Zoo administration and the ministry of agriculture can raise these salaries because they are part of their budget.
The salaries of the guards and their living conditions are very important , you can’t expect a guard who lives a terrible life to feel , protect and care for an animal. I do not know why parties ignore their agony and why no one is helping them by showing them the way , to form some union or something.
Regarding the Zoo , I believe the only solution to restore its old glory is to form an independent council from curators to administrate it as the government has failed in the last 20 years.
The fact that the guards salaries are minimal doesnt mean that they cant do their jobs. Where is the connection here? and what kind of principle is that? if a house worker isnt paid well does that mean she can open the house to strangers because she cannt protect the house?!!
ReplyDeleteIf you accept a job do it with honesty and I am sick of papers finding excuses to poor ppl to commit crimes or be negligent. Some of the faces are clear in this photo and I do hope the the guards and those silly kids get a proper punishment for messing with animals and messing up with an entity that is owned by the ppl. They should make them clean the Zoo for a couple of month and sit and read about its history may be then they will understand how important it is.
My name is Dina Zulfikar, I am surprised by what was quoted in my name.
ReplyDeleteMy comments about this incident:
Education and awareness is the main cause of problems in Egypt, the people attitude towards public facilities.
The budget allowance and manpower in general of guards securing public facilities is set by Ministry of Finance.. yes, we do not have enough resources to direct to guarding facilities, example the theft of precious articles in the main museum.. etc..
This incident can happen anywhere in the world, please read and see November 2009: Switzerland, Bern: It happened in Berne - Switzerland - what happens when mentally disturbed visitor decides to jump in the park -
http://www.20min.ch/news/bern/story/-Baeren-sind-hart-im-Nehmen--15482825
To Anonymous:
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with your quote ' the guards salaries are minimal doesnt mean that they cant do their jobs' but it is worth considering the man power appointed to guard the facilities.. mimimum guards to guard over 50 fedans.. minimum guards to act and react with over 5 thousand visitors visiting during week-ends or holidays.
Awareness and as you mentioned, reading history would raise conscious of all, families and kids.
Dina