History versus people?
Cairo Governorate's plan to move thousands of fabric merchants out of the Al-Azhar area is already generating controversy. Reem Nafie investigates
The narrow alleyways off of Al-Azhar Street are full of life, with nearly 1,200 fabric merchants inviting passers-by to come in and take a look at their merchandise. For the past millennium -- since the Abassid era -- this has been the case.
It may not, however, remain that way for much longer. Two weeks ago, Cairo Governor Abdel-Rehim Shehata approved a scheme to move the area's fabric merchants to a new "mall complex" in Abbasiya. The new mall is to be built on 10 feddans of land -- owned by an investment company -- with 8-10 metre shops provided for each trader. Shehata said the move aimed "to preserve the area's historic heritage".
According to the governorate, there are more than 246 historical sites in the Al-Azhar area that could be potential tourist attractions. Tourists, however, do not usually go to this area because of the noise and crowd created by the fabric trade. "Egypt depends on tourism and we are now working on a grand plan to preserve sites in Cairo and Giza. The fabric industry causes a lot of pollution and thus needs to be moved somewhere where it doesn't affect people negatively," said Hisham Fathi, one of the governor's consultants.
While government officials are gung-ho about the plan, nearly 1,000 of the 1,200 traders have rejected the idea, describing it as being "unfeasible" and "unrealistic". Ibrahim Abdel-Dayim, whose family has been in the fabric trade for generations, told Al-Ahram Weekly that, "the governorate's plan does not make any sense. How can they move a 500- year-old business to Abbasiya when our livelihood depends on visitors to Al-Hussein Mosque, and the people who live nearby?"
Merchants said large numbers of people from other governorates who visit the famous mosque often go shopping for fabrics and textiles after prayers. "We depend on these people to make a living," Abdel-Dayim said. "Our losses will be massive if we move."
Abdel-Dayim and many others in the area have shops that are nearly 200 square metres in size. "How can they move us to shops that are only 10 metres square?" asked an incredulous Abdel-Dayim.
Actually, the size of the new shops seems to be the least of the traders' worries, according to Selim Turk, who owns one of the area's largest fabric shops. "There are deals being worked out between certain traders and the governorate. What we have heard is that the traders who agree to move will be given larger shops in the new mall, with window views, rather than smaller ones deeper inside the mall."
While the governorate denied these claims, many fabric merchants confirmed having heard the rumour, and being extremely worried about its veracity. "I don't want to move to a small shop, knowing that someone else could get a better deal because they backed the governorate from the start," said a merchant named Mohamed Hammam.
The payment plan for the new Abbasiya shops is also somewhat ambiguous. The way the merchants understand the arrangement is that their shops in the Al-Azhar area will be sold to pay for the new venues in Abbasiya, presumably on a first come, first served basis. This seems unfair to many of the merchants, whose entire lives are centred around their shops. Most live near the area, and cannot imagine moving. Furthermore, ever since the announcement was made, the price of real estate in Abbasiya has gone up while prices in Al- Azhar have gone down. According to Hammam, "this means that not only will we be forfeiting our customers and our homes, we will lose money twice in the process."
Many of those working in related industries are also concerned. "We buy our fabrics from Al-Azhar then work on them in our nearby shops," said Ismail Ahmed, a tailor. "If the fabric providers move, it will be tougher for us to buy fabric." Ahmed and others are also worried that their regular customers -- those who shop at the fabric market -- will seek out tailors closer to the place where the market is being relocated, in Abbasiya.
Meanwhile, the new mall is not expected to have room for tailors to set up shop.
The issue bears a striking similarity to the governorate's decision -- in the mid 90s -- to move Rod Al-Farag's fruit and vegetable merchants to the Al-Obour Market on the outskirts of Cairo. At the time, the governor said the vendors were responsible for the area's massive traffic woes. Despite much hand wringing and confrontation, most of the vendors ended up moving to their newly designated place.
According to the fabric merchants, their "situation is different. Everybody can buy fruit anywhere, but the fabric market has affiliated industries that should accompany it".
The merchants also claim that whereas the "Al-Obour Market is spacious and had room for everyone, we are being moved to a small complex that won't even fit half of us."
Abdel-Dayim's conclusion is that, "If they move us, it's over for our businesses."
