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Al-Ahram Weekly 18 - 24 February 1999 Issue No. 417 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 18 - 24 February 1999 Issue No. 417
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Special Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters 'We cannot eat grass'
By Fatemah FaragMen covered in a film of white dust loiter despondently on the wide street that runs through two rows of small one-floor structures where they work. Dark eyes stare out of what has become a 'second skin' for them. These are the workers of the Al-Fawakhir lime workshops which the government plans to relocate from Old Cairo.
"Talk of our relocation is not new," explains Hag Nageh Ahmed Ali, who owns a small workshop in the area. "Since 1986, every governor of Cairo has talked about it, though nothing has ever been done. This time, however, the city council informed us a week ago that we had 48 hours to move our things off the street."
The space inside the workshops is occupied by rock-breaking machines and the space outside is used to store and sort out the white rocks vital to the industry. Hag Ali continued: "What had not been removed was taken away by government trucks last week and dumped. I personally suffered a loss of about LE2,000."
Situated behind the historic Hanging Church in the Old Cairo district of Al-Fawakhir, popularly known as Al-Qolaliya, small pottery and lime workshops have existed since the early 1960s. The government's argument is that since the area is both a tourist site and close to central Cairo, it is not the proper place for the workshops which cause considerable pollution. Instead, the Qattamiya desert area outside Maadi has been suggested as a more appropriate location. However, the government plans have aroused the suspicion and anger of the workers of both crafts, and despite the common threat both seem willing to ditch the interests of the other side for the sake of their own.
"They say they need to move us because of pollution. However, the limestone we break includes calcium that is used for medication; so, we cannot be polluters. But of course the kilns of the potters emit large amounts of smoke; so they should relocate them and leave us," said Rushdi Hamed Khorshid. On another street, Hag Mohamed Abdin told Al-Ahram Weekly that the area was in fact the potters' heritage since the days of the Fatimids; therefore, the government should move only the lime-makers.
In the meantime, plastic artists, including Mohamed Abla and Adel El-Siwi, issued a statement in support of the potters' claim to the area.
The inter-craft squabble aside, both parties said that they had come to the disputed area on orders of the Cairo governorate. Khorshid produced a contract, dated 24 July 1963, proving his legal lease from the governorate for LE18 a month. "Originally, we were located in the area of Tora and the governorate said the area had to be cleaned up and they moved us here. When we first came, it was an empty desert. We have spent the last 30 years developing the area, and now that it is workable they want to move us again to another desert which has no electricity or water. How can we go through the same ordeal again?" he asked.
The potters have similar contracts which they were given after they were moved from the Amr Ibn Al-Aas area, also in Old Cairo. "My whole life and the life of my family has been in this profession," explains Hag Abdin. "Originally, we were located in Midan Amr and then the governorate said that for the sake of tourists and for the sake of history they were going to improve the mosque area and we would have to move. They told us to come here. The area in which we are working today is an area in which the tradition of pottery has had firm roots since the times of Amr Ibn Al-Aas himself. All you have to do is dig a few metres into the ground and you will find bits and pieces of pottery from old times."
This historical claim was supported by the artists' statement, which was addressed to the governor of Cairo, citing evidence uncovered by a Japanese expedition in the area of Ahl Al-Raya. Furthermore, the artists highlighted the importance of the area for artists themselves. "There are about 15 artists who have permanent ateliers here and what we learn from, and teach, the craftsmen is invaluable," explained Nathan Doss, a young sculptor whose studio is situated at the top of the road where the government wants to begin the eviction.
The point is driven home by Hag Abdin. "What the artist can learn from the artisan is great. The latter has had art coursing through his veins since childhood. Nothing can replace that," he said, tracing a thick finger across the fine lines of his palm.
Both the potters and limestone-breakers argue that their businesses and craft will suffer serious damage if the move comes into effect. "The area the government is proposing has no electricity or water. Moreover, our customers can come to us here, but that will be much more difficult for them if we are so far out. Not to mention that there is no hospital there and our workers deal in heavy materials and operate dangerous machines. If one of them gets hurt he will bleed to death by the time he can be brought to downtown," argued Salem Abdel-Halim, the owner of a lime workshop, as he clutched a brown envelope containing papers that prove his legal right to the land on which his workshop is located.
As for the potters, Amm Ahmed, who owns the only workshop with a gas kiln, explains that because the new area is remote, it will be inaccessible to young workers, who are the backbone of the business. This would also apply to art students, tourists and customers in general. "If we are moved, the potters will become extinct," concluded Hag Abdin. "We are the last remnants of the [old Arab capital] Fustat."
The old Fustat was levelled to the ground two years ago, triggering a four-hour battle in which the potters tried to keep hold of an area that they had inhabited for hundreds of years. Obviously, no one here wants a similar confrontation. "We are all for development," said Hag Abdin. "The gas kilns are a good idea and we hope the government and NGOs will help us install them."
The lime manufacturers are towing the same line. "We do not want to obstruct the governorate's plan. We are willing to develop or move if the proper facilities are provided at a suitable new place," said Hag Ali. Furthermore, the artists have proposed that the people of the area themselves coordinate efforts to develop Al-Fawakhir, recalling that a similar effort was made in Kom Ghorab, also in Old Cairo, which ended with a demolition order being rescinded.
In the meantime, the men sit pensively in front of the piles of white rocks or brown pots drying in the sun. One took a hard look down the long street, musing: "They say they want to turn the whole area into a park. But our children cannot eat grass."
