Today, the Global Meeting of the Sustainable Cities Programme (SCP) -- held under the auspices of the Alexandria Governorate and hosted by the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) -- concludes. Al-Ahram Weekly takes the opportunity to consider some of the concerns posed by unsustainable citiesThe black hole
Do those living in shanty housing areas have rights to the property that is their only home? Dena Rashed crosses open sewage trenches and searches within plastic-sheet houses for an answer
The road to Manshiet Nasser does not tell you much about where you're heading. But the paved street leads into the Al-Duwei'a slum, home to over 1.3 million people living on an area of 850 feddans. In an attempt to upgrade the area, new buildings are being constructed for families in Manshiet Nasser, but in their shadow, however, lie hundreds of shanties in a sub-district of Al-Duwei'a called Khalf Al-Wahaid. “We fear we will be evicted at any time and we don't know what will happen to us then,” said Reda Ahmed Hassanein, a woman in her late sixties and a resident of the area for the past 25 years. “I have been living in Khalf Al-Wahaid and running a business out of my tiny shack. This is my home. I have nowhere else to go,” she said. Hassanein sells sandwiches to the residents of Al-Duwei'a. Her immediate problem is that her shanty is located on the edge of the pit where the digging for the new buildings is going on. “This small business is my main source of income, and now I feel threatened. I don't know what to do if its demolished,” she said. “The digging will certainly make my shack fall since it is made of wood and tin. And if it doesn't, they will want me to move it in order for the construction to continue.”
The Manshiet Nasser district was incorporated into a development plan, initiated by Mrs Suzanne Mubarak, to upgrade the shanty town. The Manshiet Nasser development project aims to provide families in sub-standard housing with decent flats in the area. Launched in 1999, it has managed to provide 760 flats to needy families and the second phase, finished last July, provided another 1,560 flats. The third and the fourth phases are expected to provide another 80, 000 families with flats by 2005.
The nearby construction has begun to take its toll on most of the shanty houses in Al-Duwei'a, simple brick and wood shacks no higher than two floors. “This will certainly destroy our already weak houses. Due to all the digging we started to have cracks in the walls,” said Reda Youssef, who has been living in the area since 1983.
“We pay LE73 a month for our house and it's full of cracks. We don't have anywhere else to go,” said Marwa Khamis, Youssef's 12-year-old neighbour, whose face is marred with burn scars.
Although the new buildings are incomplete, people in Al-Duwei'a have been receiving eviction notices. But for many residents, the threat of eviction is not the most immediate problem. “Due to the construction of the new buildings, we have lost the basics of living: water, electricity and a sewage system,” said Eid Ibrahim, an electrician in his early thirties. “Since the power has been cut, I have personally provided many people with private electricity connections from other areas,” he said. With an angry tone, Ibrahim describes how most of the families in shanties use wooden beams to keep the ceilings from falling down because of the nearby construction. He showed us his house; a clean, two-room building with a TV and refrigerator. He explains that he did all the electrical work himself, but know-how has not solved all his problems. “So far we've found three snakes in the house,” he said.
Although Ibrahim is not satisfied with his home, he is not willing to leave it either. “We have not been given any papers securing a flat in the new housing plan,” he added.
Many residents resort to a public water pipe away from their homes for washing. As Umm Hassan washed dishes, she said her water has been cut off for months. “I have no other option but to bring my dishes everyday and clean them since we don't have water at home,” she said. As for drinking water, residents have to use another source almost a kilometre away from their houses.
The primitive sewage system is down as well, oozing raw sewage onto the unpaved roads and alleys. “Just imagine the diseases our children catch in this environment,” said Mahmoud Abdel-Fattah, a driver.
In order to assign new flats, district officials collected some of the residents' identity papers, such as birth certificates. However, they were never returned, nor were the residents given anything to prove they will be provided with apartments, as argued by Ismail Salah, a five years old resident in the area. Down one narrow street is Hanem Abu Zeid, who lives with her only son, 18-year-old Ayman Samy. “Our name was on the list and we were supposed to get a flat in the new buildings, but we have not received anything so far,” Samy said. His mother, like most of the people in the area, fears the coming of the winter and expects the ceiling to fall in on her one-room house. At night, she covers the ceiling with sheets and wooden beams to protect them while they sleep from falling debris.
According to the Cairo Governorate about three million people live in 81 shanty areas in Cairo. The government has dedicated LE1.5 billion to develop these areas over the next four years.
Through this plan, the government has managed to provide some of the families in the shanties with flats in new cities outside Cairo. Nevertheless, most of those interviewed by the Weekly were reluctant to move to the outskirts of the city. “I was given a two-room flat in Badr City, but I went there and came back to my house. The area is practically deserted and there were no services,” said Fatheya Fahmy, a resident in her mid-forties. Her one-room shanty, made of tin and wood, is located on an empty plot of land, not far away from the other houses. Fahmy's case is rather peculiar because, according to government records, she has already been evicted. “My sister was ordered to leave because of the new construction. They gave her a flat in Badr City, but she couldn't stay there since there was no safe transportation to and from the city. So, she came back to the same shanty,” said Ne'mat Fahmy. Fatheya's sister Ne'mat was lucky to get a flat in one of the new buildings. “I am very satisfied with the flat I got from the government, although I paid LE1,400 and the rent is LE73 a month.” Ne'mat argued that many people sold their flats in Badr City and returned to the shanties because they could not live there. “My husband barely makes LE10 per day. How much money would we have to pay for transportation?” asked Soad Zaki, an area resident.
However, for others moving anywhere else is just not an option. For traders, their houses sometimes double as a workplace. “I sell vegetables, and I use my home as a storage area. I can't leave the life I had for more than 20 years to live in some far away place,” said El-Sayed Abu Rehab. Abu Rehab is one of many residents who filed a law suit against the government, attempting to halt the eviction of Al-Duwei'a inhabitants. “We found out that there is no eviction order from the legal department of the district, but we are all subject to the threat of the eviction on a daily basis,” he added. “More importantly, the development of the area was supposed to find houses for the needy, not evict them.”
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 2 - 8 October 2003 (Issue No. 658)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/658/fe3.htm