The Menadiyeen are the unofficial car parkers in Egypt’s capital Cairo, they supervise all the parking (double and triple parking) within their area, collecting tips for their skills of parking cars into the most improbable spaces.
The Menadiyeen act as an unofficial parking task force protecting their territory as well as the car they park, some time resulting in violent altercations with potential car thieves as well as traffic police.
In an attempt to control the parking through Egypt’s capital the city government has already installed the first of 1,000 state of the art parking meters, from Saydo Electronics the Egyptian subsidiary of Sony Corp.
The new meters do not accept cash only smart cards that can be purchased for $4.50 from attendants.
The meters also have an ingenious way of insuring that user do pay for their parking once a motorist pulls in to a metered spot a metal bar imprisons the vehicle in the space and there is no escape with out paying.
With the implementation of these new parking meters the Menadiyeen will be left without an income, there are fears that this could destroy about 5,000 families who income come from the revenue of unofficial parking attendants.
