A HISTORICAL 19th century area in Cairo is being demolished to make way for luxury housing and business developments, angering residents who say they have not been properly compensated.
Developers have long eyed the central Maspero district, which is home to the foreign ministry and the state television and radio building, just a stone’s throw from the Nile.
The region, named after the French Egyptologist Gaston Maspero, who helped found the Egyptian Museum, was built by Khedive Ismail in the 19th century. It was envisioned as a Paris on the Nile, with wide boulevards, traffic circles and stately European-style architecture.
Among the casualties of the new development is the Hinhayat watch shop, which was established in 1907.
Essam Ahmed, the owner, says his grandfather worked in the shop and then purchased it in 1956, when Egypt’s foreign communities fled in the face of growing nationalism and expropriation of property by the socialist government.
He boasts that his grandfather once fixed watches belonging to King Farouk, Egypt’s last monarch, as well as politicians and celebrities.
Ahmed has filed legal suits against the government, saying the shop should have been spared demolition because of its historical value. He said authorities told him that he would only be compensated if he drops these cases.
He and other nearby shop owners say the compensation offered by the government for their businesses – 7,000 pounds (£306) per square metre – falls well short of market value in the area.
“Their compensation, which we have not received yet, is worthless.” Ahmed said.
“Our livelihood is gone.”
The government insists the compensation offered was fair and denies forcibly relocating anyone.
The redevelopment is part of the effort to transform Cairo, which is home to 20 million people, even as a new administrative capital is built in the desert 30 miles to the east.
Authorities say the projects are needed to reduce the overcrowding, traffic and pollution that plague the city. But critics say poor and middle-class Egyptians are being pushed out by well-connected businessmen.
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