8 - 14 March 2001
Issue No.524
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 8 - 14 March 2001 Issue No.524 |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
Into exile
It is a world on its own, with its own rule of law and an unspoken camaraderie among its loyal citizens. Without it, an untold number of Cairo's underprivileged would be stripped of their main source of income and many more would be cut off from a steady stream of basic necessities offered at prices they can afford. Unwieldy and unsavoury as it may be to local authorities, the street market cannot be dismissed as expendable; and yet, it seems, this is the assumption repeatedly being made in the course of sprucing up the overcrowded and unattended areas of the city that have traditionally housed these seemingly chaotic marketplaces.
Come every Friday and Sunday, hundreds of vendors set up their wares on the backstreets and alleyways of the working-class district of Al-Khalifa. The conglomerate of vendors and market-goers have evolved into a permanent biweekly fixture of the city: the Sayeda Aisha street market. Though there is no official marker, the invisible border that separates the "city" from the souq (market), it is obvious to anyone who crosses it. At first glance, pandemonium reigns. Sellers and buyers jostle for room as children weave in and out of the crowds, themselves out to make a pound or two. The smell of food and refuse wafts above the cacophony of voices. But beyond the apparent anarchy is fastidious organisation: where vendors set up shop and how much space they have is carefully planned and regulated by an internal system with iron-clad rules. The busy movement of the market is anything but arbitrary.
Here you can buy anything from the plastic facing on a cassette tape to a pet snake, but the Sayeda Aisha market is not just an exercise in diversity. It is here that low-income families manage to acquire affordable basic goods such as second-hand clothing and cheap material. "Simple and poor people like us can find everything they need in the souq -- clothes, textiles, furniture, pottery and odds and ends," says Mustafa, one of the many people prowling the stands for bargains. He is perusing an eclectic collection of wares: old telephones, washing machines, stolen mobiles, pieces of personal computers, broken photo frames with anonymous pictures and a pile of unmatched shoes.
For a long time, the market was situated at the centre of Al-Khalifa district, which sprawls around the Citadel up to Al-Muqattam area. An attempt by the government to ease the pressure on the area resulted in a decision to clear the vendors off the main street. But though it was clear where they were not wanted, no alternative was offered as a new base for the market. Not knowing where to settle down, hundreds of displaced street vendors set up shop at their present location behind the Sayeda Aisha Mosque, close to the autostrade. The area, known as Al-Tunsi, drew more vendors -- exiles from other clean-up initiatives over the past few years. Mohamed Abdel-Rahman is one such refugee. "For over five years I operated out of the Ataba market downtown, but like the rest of the people here, I was evacuated and found no place else to go but here."
(From top) The market and it's people: at this couple's "shop" everything from scrap metal to icons are available at affordable prices; under the bridge thrives the trade of pet animals; faced with an uncertain future, vendors at the Sayeda Aisha market are adamantly against further allocation
The spot is hardly a safe haven for vendors who have lost their markets. Metres from where Abdel-Rahman is hawking his nature-motif posters are piles of garbage putrefying under the winter sun. Nearby, the market's boundaries permeate the borders of Muslim and Jewish cemeteries. And as if this disagreeable atmosphere were not enough, a short railway -- a relic from the time King Farouk used to transport railway workers to their job locations -- cuts through the market. Because so many vendors are forced to place their goods very close to the railway, the sound of the train sets off a frenzy of hurling objects out of harm's way. Farouk, a house painter who comes to the market on his day off to sell worn-out brushes at "really cheap prices", insists these are hazards vendors can deal with. "I benefit a lot from the market, and I don't care whether my things are too close to the tracks. I can easily move them in time, because the train is so slow."
Al-Tunsi is far from prime real estate, but Sayeda Aisha vendors are willing to take it. Even so, the relevant authorities feel differently. Two schools built by the government now find themselves engulfed by the market and the encroachment on the cemeteries, where junk vendors have built shanty housing, is a cause for concern. There is talk of adverse effects on an old stone arch known as Goha's Gate, but the authenticity of this site as an ancient monument is questionable.
Though the problem is layered with issues, Hamdi El-Molla, recently appointed head of Al-Khalifa District, has taken a hardline stance. "No one in this market has a legitimate right to be there. Their presence is a clear infringement on the rights of the district's inhabitants," he said. But he admitted that a thorough analysis of the situation needs to be done ahead of any further action.
Attempts to make the market more profitable failed when an auction organised a year back by Cairo governorate failed to clinch a private contractor to run the market. Had a deal gone through, the market would have been legitimised. The plan never succeeded because no one was apparently willing to pay the monthly rent demanded by the governorate. Rumour has it that the government now plans to dislodge Sayeda Aisha market once again, but this time an alternate location is being floated: the industrial area of Al-Qatamiya. Planted out in the desert beyond the autostrade, some 60 kilometres from the heart of the city, Al-Qatamiya is not really a viable option so much as it is banishment.
Local authorities have numerous reasons for wanting the market legalised or dispersed, but the official line is that the market is a haven for criminals out to capitalise on the desperation of its inhabitants. Abdel-Hamid Ghazaleh, head of the markets department of the Al-Khalifa local council, says that the Sayeda Aisha market is a stronghold for thugs and outlaws. "We cannot deny that we have difficulty in controlling this specific market," he said.
It may be rife with thugs, but again, vendors are not in a position to be choosy. Hundreds of people from all walks of life make their living here. For one, Mohamed Abdel-Rahman had no intention of making his livelihood off of peddling posters. "I graduated from the Arab Music Institute, but I haven't had one chance to work in my field. This is the only job available to me," he said. An older seller remarked angrily, "Many of the street vendors you see here are college graduates, and others have high school diplomas." Pointing out a young woman selling children toys, he said, "Abeer over there has been here for over a year now. She has a high school diploma, which should have offered her a better job than this -- but it didn't."
For her part, Abeer cannot imagine things getting worse. "We already went through enough settling in this area," she explains, saying that all vendors are forced to pay rent to the municipality. Every person pays a "garbage fine" of LE10 per week, but the purpose of this is uncertain, since the site is essentially used as a rubbish dump. "As if this is not enough, we are under constant threat that the police will come in and confiscate our goods, as they often do," says Abeer. She is furious that the government is considering moving them again. "If this market is moved to Al-Qatamiya, who is going to take a two-hour ride that will cost more than the toy he is planning to buy?"
On the issue of relocation, it is everyone for himself at Sayeda Aisha. The animal section of the market is currently located under the Sayeda Aisha bridge. Haj Ahmed, who has been selling dogs for nearly three years, admits that business has never been as good as before the market was moved. Nonetheless, he says that come what may, this section of the market will remain where it is. "Even if the government decides to move the market to Al-Qatamiya, there would be no reason to move us, because this time we are not blocking any roads. If they want, they should go after the street vendors, who definitely crowd the area."
But speak to the ceramics vendors and you'll find that they consider themselves the truly legitimate heirs to the space. Hamad, one such vendor, declared, "We have always been in this place. We regulate our own system." Others are simply too tired to make another move, much less to so remote a place. Mohamed, who has been selling scrap metal since 1958, has been shuffled from one market to another over the years. He is not young anymore and another move would be just too much. "I've done my best, and it is about time that I be left to settle in one place," he said.
One thing market vendors do agree on is that they are willing to pay the governorate a monthly rent. This would eliminate the arbitrary weekly fees imposed on them and, more importantly, circumvent the plan to move the market. Mohamed Hussein, who sells jeans and old mobiles, notes that running an illegitimate market is an invitation for thugs to pull the strings. "In addition to the fees we pay, we have to pay another monthly rent to the [thugs] who control the market," he said. The "rent" differs according to what is being sold and how much space one takes up.
It's already a difficult life, but to be suspended in limbo makes it all the harder. While efforts to clean up derelict areas are always admirable, no intervention is immaculate -- there are always consequences. Officials need to consider whether in this case the good will outweigh the bad.
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