Residents in a village in Daqahlia Governorate started a peaceful, open-ended sit-in Sunday to protest what they say is a lack of facilities there.
The residents of Tahsin village in Beni Obeid are also protesting the government’s refusal to start operating a new school built on land that residents had donated, as well as the lack of paved roads leading to the village and the absence of a health unit to serve its residents.
Tahsin’s 3,000 residents have told the government and security agencies about the situation and decided not to allow any government official to enter the village and not to pay any dues or financial bills to the state.
Protesters held banners that read “Civil disobedience is the solution” and “Before the revolution [we] were oppressed and after the revolution [we] are forgotten.”
They threatened to begin a hunger strike starting 15 September if their demands are not met.
“We will not allow any government official to enter the village, unless it is President Mohamed Morsy or the prime minister, to see the injustice we witness,” resident Mohamed al-Sherbiny said.
Daqahlia Governor Salah al-Madawy told Al-Masry Al-Youm that a technical committee would be sent to the village to find out the status of services and to provide the urgent credit necessary to compensate the lack of services.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
