Families relocated from informal housing to satellite cities after 2-ton rock slide

At least 85 families residing in eastern Cairo’s informal housing area of Duweiqa were evicted and relocated to satellite cities around the capital on Sunday, the day after a devastating rock slide destroyed their homes.

Authorities quickly moved to relocate these families residing at the base of the rocky Moqattam hills, in hopes of averting the devastating loss of life associated with the massive Duweiqa rock slide of 2008 that resulted in 119 fatalities and dozens of injuries, according to official figures.

On Saturday, a reportedly two-ton boulder came crashing down on this impoverished neighborhood in the Manshiyet Nasser district. While the rock slide resulted in some material damage, no human casualties have been reported.

Local media outlets reported that these 85 families were relocated to economy housing units in the satellite cities of Badr and October 6 City. Municipal authorities allegedly tore down their homes in Duweiqa to prevent them from returning to the area.

According to press statements issued on Sunday by Manshiyet Nasser municipality director Mohamed Noureddein, 13 buildings in dangerous locations around the base of the Moqattam hills “housing around 85 families” were evacuated.

According to Noureddein, 27 families were relocated to Badr City while the remaining families were relocated to October 6 City.

There has been no mention in either state-owned or privately owned media outlets regarding the rental costs of these new apartments. Similarly, no mention has been made regarding the state's compensation, if any, to those forcibly evicted from their homes.

Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb, security officials and Cairo governorate officials were shown on state television visiting the neighborhood on Saturday to assess the damage after the rock slide, and inspect the area’s housing conditions.

One evicted resident told Mehleb, “I’d rather die here than leave my home,” the privately owned news site Youm7 reported.

“What you’re saying is wrong,” the prime minister allegedly responded.

Area residents affected by the 2008 rock slide had been relocated to distant housing quarters where they had little to no employment opportunities, little access to transportation, poor living conditions and often unaffordable rents.

However, the state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram reported that the evictions were necessary, as “all residencies and real estate in Manshiyet Nasser are in violation of law and building codes."

These homes are “illegally constructed on state-owned lands,” added Al-Ahram columnist Ahmed al-Berry.

Berry described informal housing areas like Manshiyet Nasser as “an explosive belt” around Cairo. The columnist supported government plans to evict all its residents, but recognized that this would be a massive and complicated undertaking.

Berry blamed a 2007 prime ministerial decree for allowing the official extension of utilities such as electricity, gas and water to these densely populated areas, without providing waste-water drainage or sewage networks. This resulted in waste-water seeping into the earth, which led to erosion and in turn the increased occurrence of rock slides, the writer claimed.

There are roughly 1,300 informal housing areas across Egypt, of which 340 are unsafe for habitation, the Reuters-affiliated Aswat Masriya news site reported Mehleb as saying on Sunday.

Citing comments by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Mehleb added that LE500 million would be used from the state’s crowd-funded Tahya Masr account to renovate the Duweiqa neighborhood. This project is due to be completed by the end of this year, according to the statements issued by the prime minister and president.