Dozens of agricultural employees who have been on strike in Wadi Gadid stormed into the governorate headquarters on Tuesday afternoon to demand the departure of Sayed Atteya, the head of the agricultural sector in the governorate.
The employees stopped short of breaking into the office of Governor Tareq al-Mahdi due to the intervention of MPs, who said they are holding a meeting with the governor to examine their demands.
The MPs told the employees that the governor had agreed to suspend Atteya until the committee set up to investigate their complaints completes its investigation.
Mohamed Abdel Meguid, MP for the Freedom and Justice Party, said the governor pledged not to allow Atteya to resume work and added that an impartial committee is currently looking into the workers’ complaints.
The employees will be allowed to choose someone to replace Atteya, Abdel Meguid said, adding that the decision to suspend him has to be made by the agriculture minister himself, who has already been contacted by the governor.
Agricultural employees in Wadi Gadid have been on strike for 12 days to protest penalties imposed on some of the workers by Atteya.
Protests for his removal blocked the highway linking Kharga and Assiut.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
