CAIRO: Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif sparked controversy when he criticized the Egyptian 1999 Nobel Prize winner Ahmed Zewail, for not living up to his promise of setting up a technological university in Egypt during a talk he gave last Thursday at a youth camp in Alexandria.
According to Al-Masry Al-Youm, while meeting with youths in the Abu Kir camp, Nazif said that Zewail proposed the idea after winning the Nobel Prize and promised to secure its funding. However, the project has been delayed.
In an editorial published in Al-Ahram daily newspaper, Makram Mohamed questioned the government’s motives behind criticizing Zewail. He said that even if Zewail was unable to finance his project; that is not where he should be channeling his energy. His expertise should be pooled towards reviving scientific research in Egypt.
Chemist Abdel-Hakim Kandil, renowned expert in the field of nuclear energy, criticized scientific development in Egypt. He told The Daily Star Egypt that it does not live up to the required standards. He added that Nazif’s comments are an indication of that.
The government should give more financial support to scientists in order for the country to develop, Kandil said.
The US, he continued, is as an example of a developed country that spends around 34 percent of its budget on scientific development and research compared.
And in return the US receives around 37 percent of international trade revenues, Kandil said.
Scientific research is the gateway for development and the government should recognize that, he added.
Kandil taught at international universities including his alma mater, Florida State University, and currently teaches at Helwan University, where he helped create the Center for Scientific Research and the Faculty of Science. He is also the director of the Center of Faculty and Leadership Development Program and a member of the Atomic Energy Agencies of Egypt and Switzerland.
Kandil won various awards and honors for his work and commitment in the field from different countries, but believes that Egyptian scientists do not receive the honor and respect they deserve from their own country compared to how they are regarded abroad.
During the same meeting Nazif sparked controversy when he accused human rights organizations of only reporting on the negative and ignoring all the positive achievements taking place in Egypt.
Hossam Bahgat, chairman of the Egyptian initiative of Personal Rights told The Daily Star Egypt that Nazif’s statement on civil society and human rights organizations shows “his ignorance of their activities. Nabil Abdel-Fatah, political analyst at Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, also told The Daily Star Egypt in a previous interview that “it is not the job of a human rights organization to compliment the government.
“These organizations are required to point out all violations and problems that citizens face in Egypt and try to make their voices reach both the government and the world, he said.
On the other hand, Mohamed Khalil Kwaitah, MP for the ruling National Democratic Party, told The Daily Star Egypt that he fully supports the Prime Minister’s statement.
