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METRO PLANNERS RUN INTO OPPOSITION
BY AMENA BAKR
There’s a fine line between
the rights of the individual and the common good. Currently, it
is being tested in Abbasiya, where construction on Cairo’s
third metro line has pitched residents and shopkeepers against civic
planners. A conflict has been brewing since the government announced
its plan to demolish 21 buildings near Abbasiya Square to create
a metro station, and has only intensified with the arrival of construction
crews last May.
The new station is one of 29 terminals planned for the third metro
line, which will run from Imbaba in the west to Cairo International
Airport in the northeast, passing through Zamalek, Attaba, Abbasiya
and Heliopolis. The 34-kilometer line is expected to serve millions
of commuters a day and help alleviate Cairo’s burgeoning traffic
problem. Given that, the government’s decision to remove a
few homes and shops to create a metro station seems reasonable on
the grounds that the public interest should take priority over private
property.
Even those whose homes and shops have been earmarked for demolition
generally agree. Where they disagree, however, is in the level of
compensation offered by the government. “The National Authority
for Tunnels said that they would pay us LE 2,000 per square meter,
which is ridiculous, because our shops are worth millions,”
says Salah El Sayed, owner of a fiteer shop in Abbasiya Square.
“This is one of the most established commercial districts
in Egypt, which is why it is so valuable.”
Atta El Sherbiny, chairman of the National Authority for Tunnels
(NAT), has made no objection to the claim, but says the compensation
package is not for him to decide. “We are prepared to pay
these people whatever they want, but the decision has to come from
the Cairo Governorate office,” he told Business Monthly. While
the compensation will come directly from NAT’s pocket, it
is according to a value set by real estate experts and officials
from the governorate’s office, he explained.
In theory, the team of experts assembled by Cairo Governorate conducted
a comprehensive survey of real estate prices city-wide and in the
areas affected by construction, and used the data to formulate the
actual value of the shops and homes, offering the owners of these
units fair market value. However, Cairo Governorate officials declined
all requests by Business Monthly for interviews to explain how the
process was actually carried through.
Abbasiya Square residents and store owners in the path of the metro
line received notice last year that their buildings would be demolished.
However, a Cairo court, responding to a complaint filed by a group
of shop owners, ruled on July 4 that demolition orders could not
be issued before a special committee convenes and the court determines
whether the allocated area is necessary for the project. “The
committee came here and they examined the location and said that
the final word would be given by the first week of September,”
says Magdy Mokhtar, one of the lawyers handling the case.
Despite the court ruling, preparation for the demolition is already
under way. Buildings have been cordoned off, utilities cut and digging
crews are looking busy. “We can’t really stop a project
like this, and we can’t afford to be late as the opening of
the first phase is scheduled for October 2011,” explains El
Sherbiny. He said the E250 million construction contract for the
first phase of the third line, stretching 4.3 kilometers from Imbaba
to Abbasiya, was awarded to a consortium led by French contractor
Vinci Construction Grands Projets, which previously worked on sections
of lines one and two. “We already paid them LE 350 million
as an advance, and if we are late in any stage of the project we
have to pay them a penalty of LE 50 million.”
The 21 buildings slated for demolition line one side of a street
on which an underground metro station will be built. El Sherbiny
explains that the construction requires tunneling close to their
foundations, which will put them at serious risk of collapse. “These
are very old buildings and when we dig the tunnel 20 to 30 meters
down, the buildings will certainly fall,” he says.
Tempers flared on July 7 when Waily district authorities began dismantling
the area’s utilities. “They came up this street like
the Tartars, uprooting all the electricity cables and destroying
our water and gas pipes,” complained Hisham El Zeini, a koshary
shop owner. “This raid was basically an attempt to scare people
and force them to accept their lousy compensation. Their message
was loud and clear: ‘resistance is futile.’”
Within days, the occupants of six of the 21 buildings had raised
the white flag, accepting the compensation package offered. But
the action also strengthened the resolve of the remaining property
owners, who have vowed to carry on the fight. “We decided
that the best way is to team up and fight for our right till the
very end,” says El Sayed.
Lawyer Mokhtar insists the government’s tactics are unlawful,
as the state cannot take any disruptive action before the court
issues its verdict. “I can’t believe they dared to cut
the electricity and surround these shops with metal barriers like
a prison,” he says. “When we win this case, God willing,
we are going to demand compensation.”
Retailers say the construction work has transformed their once-vibrant
street into a “dungeon” where shoppers feel unwelcome.
“We lost most of our customers over the past couple of months,”
complains one store owner whose building has been earmarked for
demolition. “At this point I have no faith in the government
because they are harming more than 300 workers and their families.”
Businesses in buildings that have not been marked for demolition
are faring no better, insists Mohamed Ahmed, who owns a bakery across
the street from the main construction site. A number of store owners
told Business Monthly that they intend to seek compensation from
NAT for blocking their stores’ entrances with large metal
barriers, which has obstructed customers from entering. “The
workers told us that it was just to protect our shops from the construction
going on, but at the same time it has turned our sidewalk into a
trench,” complains Ahmed.
Distrust pervades the air. Some property owners doubt the government’s
intention to build a metro station at all, believing a rumor that
corrupt officials have plans to build a garden and sell it to foreign
investors.
El Sherbiny confirms that a garden will be built, but insists this
is an integral part of the metro line’s design. “You
have to understand that when we have an underground tunnel we need
ventilation machines to pump air inside the tunnel,” he explains.
“These machines will be placed inside the garden, which will
be [planted with vegetation] because we don’t want it turned
into a garbage dump.”
Transportation infrastructure projects often create conflict between
the government and property owners in the construction zone, El
Sherbiny points out. “People are always unhappy about the
compensation they get,” he says. “We faced similar opposition
during the construction of the first and the second metro lines.
We had people from Shobra and Helwan complaining, and they also
went to court, but in the end the project went on and they accepted
the compensation offered.”
El Sherbiny says that with pressure mounting to find a solution
to Cairo’s ever-worsening traffic problem, NAT and the Ministry
of Transport must put the public interest first. “If we don’t
build this metro line, the average car speed in Cairo will go from
25 km/h today to 8 km/h by 2012, which means you’ll be better
off walking home,” he says. “At the end of the day,
let’s face reality... the project must go on.”
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