Am in two minds over this - which is basically how I felt about the CDWS in the first place.
For all their faults, and the inevitable corruption behind the senior members, there were people involved who genuinely had the best interests of the dive industry at heart. Like any organisation or governing body, the fact that the leadership is self-serving does not mean that lower-ranking members are all singing to the same tune.
On the other hand, yes, it had issues!
I do not disagree entirely with the concept of the examination because sadly, regardless of nationality and location, it's rather easy to get signed off as a DM without meeting any performance requirements at all. It was an imperfect pain in the backside, but it was an attempt to address this.
I have no idea what this will mean for the staff who work here - and particualrly the non-Egyptian staff. The CDWS is one thing, but the offices responsible for work permits are also not operational at the moment. Like everything else, we wait and see, but I suspect that, apart from the hammering the dive industry has already taken, it's going to be very difficult, if not virtually impossible to recruit new staff this year. My dive centre had 35 staff last year, probably 25 of whom were "full time freelance" like myself, and we are currently down to 11, I think.
Yes, there are a few who are on holiday who will return but... hmmmmm! Think it might be a busy summer, assuming I do actually manage to stay here...
Interesting times
C.
