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Al-Ahram Weekly 25 February - 3 March 1999 Issue No. 418 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 25 February - 3 March 1999 Issue No. 418
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Bad for business?
By Sahar El-BahrAl-Mu'izz Lidin Illah Al-Fatimi Street is where most of Cairo's Islamic monuments can be found. But it is also well known as a commercial area where lower- and middle-income Egyptians buy things -- pots, garments, cloth, carpets, books or dishes -- at reasonable prices. Since a major project to improve Fatimid Cairo was inaugurated, however, the fate of the shops, workshops and vendors' stalls in the area is hanging in the balance. Are they, as some officials state, an eyesore in an otherwise pristine spot? Or are they the main victims of plans to upgrade Islamic Cairo for the benefit of tourists?
Making a living, or marring the monuments? Vendors and traffic claim right of way
According to statistics published by the Supreme Council for Antiquities (SCA), shops and workshops account for about 1,131 violations of the antiquities code in Islamic Cairo. Some shop owners, for example, have damaged the facade of a monument to set up shop against the walls, or have expanded their commercial activities at the expense of a mosque or wikala. Mustafa Abdel-Fattah, chairman of the Endowment Authority at the Ministry of Awqaf (Religious Endowments), says that 25 feddans will be reserved for the traders of Al-Mu'izz Street. Where this area will be, however, has not been decided. Ahmed Sultan, deputy governor for Central Cairo, says a committee is considering the situation of the whole area; again, however, nothing has been decided yet. "But we will take into consideration the interests of the people and the monuments," he promises.
The shopkeepers and itinerant vendors, while uncertain as to what the future will bring, have a different story to tell. "We feel helpless since top officials are directly involved in the project," explains Yehia Abdel-Zaher, the owner of a workshop producing wrought-iron goods. "The officials should take us into consideration: there are many people who live and work on and around Al-Mu'izz Street, and who have nowhere else to go. Besides, most of the crafts are part of the heritage of this street: artisans have been doing the same things for hundreds of years."
Mahmoud Arafa is one of the dozens of peddlers who set up wooden carts along Al-Mu'izz Street, which intersects the Muski area -- a spillover from Ataba, where one can buy anything from Upper Egyptian shawls to cut-price undergarments. Arafa buys cheap garments from Port Said then brings them here. He was planning to get married in June, thanks to the money he has made as a vendor, but has had to postpone his plans since he heard he, and the other vendors, would soon be asked to move along.
"We are the real victims of this project. Unlike the shop owners, peddlers will not receive financial compensation or new shops in another area. We will have nothing. Yet we provide an important service: people come here from all over Cairo because our goods are so cheap," Arafa explains.
Why, the vendors wonder, are the monuments more important than their livelihood?
Near Bab Al-Futouh is the wholesale onion, garlic and lemon market. Sacks of raw olives and cartloads of pungent onions stand before Al-Hakim Mosque. Ahmed Mahrous, who sells onions, inherited the shop he rents from his father, and his father before him, he says. In the '60s, he remembers rent was LE1. A decade later, it was three times that. Two years ago, however, the Ministry of Awqaf, which is responsible for the houses and shops in the area, raised the rent to LE35. But Mahrous, as well as many of his neighbours, say they can afford this easily.
The problem, as far as they are concerned, is the uncertainty of their present situation. Where will they be moved, and when? Which shops will have to go, and which can stay? No one has received an official warning to move out yet. But they know it will not be long. No one is prepared to leave: "We will file a lawsuit against the government," one trader says. "Actually, we will file dozens of lawsuits, and they will take years in court. This will last until doomsday."
Trading has not been as brisk as it once was since the project began. Still, the vendors argue that, if they move, their situation can only deteriorate: "Transport costs will have to be factored in, and the goods will be very expensive," one explains.
The traders have been especially anxious since some newspapers reported that the market will be moved to Al-Obour. Mahrous expects great losses: "The shops there are very small. Besides, Al- Obour is very far away. I have sold onions for 30 years, but there I will have to start all over, trying to attract new customers. Besides, the traders at Al-Obour are influential wholesale dealers. They sell all kinds of vegetables, but here we only sell onions and garlic," he adds.
Mahrous is not totally against the idea of moving, but he would prefer a new market to be set up near Al-Mu'izz Street. At any rate, he will have nothing to do with tourist development: "I am not about to turn my shop into a bazaar. I only understand onions," he asserts.
The onion and garlic sellers, however, agree that those who stand to lose the most are the lemon vendors, because their profits are so low anyway. Most of the sellers are women, usually the sole breadwinners in their large families.
Tawhida, for instance, buys a couple of sacks of lemons at the wholesale price, then sells them at retail prices. Tawhida has three daughters. The two oldest are in secondary school, the youngest still in primary. Tawhida's husband left her and the girls 10 years ago. "Every day, at 7 o'clock in the morning, I go to the auction, buy two sacks of lemons, and then come here to sell them. Sometimes, I make nothing extra at the end of the day. The people who buy from me live in the area, and are usually lower-class, so they bargain a lot. But if the market moves to Al-Obour I will find no work at all, and my girls will starve," she laments.
Others are pleased at news that the market will be moved. The owner of a café near the market is waiting until renovation work is completed. Then he will reopen the café in anticipation of the tourists he expects will flock to the area. He feels the onion and garlic market ruins the view. "I closed my café because of this market and the people working there. It is very hard to deal with them," he complains.
The overwhelming feeling among tradesmen, however, is dread engendered by the fact that nothing is clear at this point. "We are confused by the contradictory statements government officials keep making," protests Mohamed Said Abul-Wafa, who owns a shisha shop abutting Al-Selehdar Mosque. "Every now and then we read a decree in the newspaper or see an official on TV making a declaration. Some say that all the shops will be moved, others say only the tourist shops will stay."
Abul-Wafa, however, unlike many of his colleagues, is not worried. He can afford to move, but argues that, if all the shops are closed, owners should receive five years' notice as well as financial compensation. "I, for one, will not wait for compensation, though. How can the government pay adequate compensation? The smallest shop here -- barely a stall one metre wide and one metre deep -- is estimated at LE300,000. I have my capital, and I can open another business. But it is the big traders like me who can cope with the situation. What about the small vendors, and the people in the workshops?" he wonders. "Where will they go?"
Abdel-Basset Abdel-Tawwab is one such small vendor. He has a tiny stall near Al-Ghouri, where he sells cloth. Abdel-Tawwab's immediate family, and several relatives, have no other means of survival but his income. Another trader, Mahmoud Ouf, has a tourist shop near Abul-Dahab Mosque. "We must not be the victims of this project," he exclaims. "We serve tourism. Tourists come especially to buy souvenirs from my bazaar." Ouf admits the mosque has deteriorated rapidly, but believes that this is the responsibility of the SCA. "For 12 years a committee has been coming here to restore the mosque, but nothing is being done," he states.
Ouf also argues that, besides contributing to the vigour of the tourist industry, the tradesmen of Islamic Cairo fulfil a vital function as far as limited-income urban groups are concerned. "On Friday this street is so crowded with people shopping for medicinal herbs, bed linen, tablecloths, material and gold jewellery... This area is famous for its low prices. It is unfair to prevent people from buying at reasonable prices." Ouf suggests that only workshops using heavy machines should be moved.
Abdallah El-Sha'ini, who sells gold jewellery in a shop next to Abdel-Rahman Katkhuda Mosque, feels that officials could do much to preserve the monuments without removing the vendors, "like cleaning the streets, and making this area a pedestrian zone".
