“Why are you against killing the pigs? he asked.
“Who said so? I said. “I am for killing all pigs, but not those raised in barns.
“Are there any other pigs? he asked
“The country’s full of pigs, and those living outside the barns are more dangerous and outnumber those living inside. Some of the pigs that live in barns are so weak they look like rats, but the pigs that live in our midst are fat and overweight, I said.
“That’s because the ones living in barns have only garbage to feed on, he said.
“Yes, I said. “But the pigs that live in our midst are devouring our country’s wealth, without getting rid of the garbage. On the contrary, they’re spreading their own garbage all over the place. They’re spreading corruption: financial, moral and intellectual. The threat posed by such corruption to our society is bigger than that posed by household waste the barn pigs are feeding on.
“But barn pigs transmit a serious disease, swine flu, he said.
“But it was proven that they are free of the disease, I said.
“They can become infected, he said.
“If this happens it would be through human contact, so shouldn’t we be more wary of humans who might transmit the disease from abroad rather killing one of nature’s species that doesn’t carry the virus, I replied.
“But if these pigs become infected in any way, either through humans or through any other medium, their dirty barns will be a breeding ground for the spread of the disease, he answered.
“They can only get the disease through humans, as I told you. We do not import live pigs from other countries, while our doors are open to hundreds of thousands of people who enter the country. They will be the ones who will transmit the disease to us. This means that the disease may be spread even after culling the pigs, because it spreads from human to human, not from non-infected pigs to humans.
“What harm is there in killing the pigs as a precautionary measure? he asked.
“It is not a precautionary measure because it will benefit no one. As I have explained to you, it does not immunize us against the disease. This detrimental ill-conceived measure, whose consequences have not been carefully examined by the government before being implemented, will adversely affect a sector of society; the owners of these barns.
“But the government will compensate them.
“It never happened in any other country in the world that a government suddenly decides to abolish a profession and tell those whose livelihood depends on it, that it will compensate them and that they should suddenly abandon it and turn into construction workers, carpenters or hairdressers.
“Besides, the pigs used to rid us of the garbage that exceeds that produced by the largest cities in the world. I don’t know what we’ll do about this garbage now. Did the government’s decision entail an examination of how to deal with the garbage that will double in size?
“This is a lesser damage than the danger of the spread of the swine flu, he said.
“No, it’s more dangerous because it could cause the spread of other diseases, and won’t prevent the spread of swine flu.
“What are the other damages?
“They are many, but the most dangerous is that it shows that ill-conceived decisions still prevail, while sound planning should have led us to another direction, as what is happening in the rest of the world where they didn’t exterminate any of their live species.
“Instead, they have taken proper precautions, as laid down by the World Health Organization, which did not include the elimination of pigs. So why don’t we put aside our haphazard genius which is a more serious disease, and do what others are doing.
“Who is responsible for this wrong decision? he asked.
“It’s the other pigs that I’m talking to you about wand whom I’d love to rid the country of and of their decisions that reflect that other more serious disease from which we suffer, and which is already infecting our political, social and intellectual lives. They’re the ones who spell disaster for the future of this country, and they won’t prevent the spread of swine flu.
Mohamed Salmawy is President of the Arab Writers’ Union and Editor-in-Chief of Al-Ahram Hebdo.
