Over 1K slum-dwelling families in Giza moved to alternative housing units

CAIRO – 13 February 2022: Giza Municipal Authority announced Sunday moving 80 families from Ezbet Harb and 1,000 families from Sen Al Agouz, both are slums, to fully-furnished alternative housing units in October Gardens neighborhood.

Further, work is underway to move 84 families, the fourth batch, from Sudan Huts to the same suburban neighborhood.

Deputy Cairo Governor for Southern Zone Gihane Abdel Moneim stated in November that 3,456 families that used dwell a slum area called Ezbet Abou Qarn in Old Cairo have been moved to fully furnished units in Maan alternative housing project located in Al Salam City eastern Cairo within Decent Life initiative.

The original residences of those families, which were 1,213 flat-buildings, have been demolished for being unsafe. The deputy governor noted that Ezbet Abou Qarn spans over 42 feddans (one feddan equals 4,500 square meters), and that it was dwelled by 4,758 families.

CEO of the Civil Development Fund Khaled Sediq stated in August that the cost of the construction of one residential unit at an alternative housing compound is LE450,000, excluding the land price.

Sediq added that the cost of constructions in Asmarat alone is LE3.6 billion, while the value of the land on which it is built is LE2.5 billion.

The official pointed out that LE609 billion have been allocated to the fund, and that they will be disbursed over batches in the coming future.

The Civil Development Fund's CEO stressed that population growth has to become 400,000 per annum down from over two million currently for citizens to reap the fruits of development.

Since 2014, the Egyptian state has built tens of thousands of fully-furnished residential units that are divided upon alternative housing neighborhoods eastern Cairo like Asmarat, Mahrousa, Ahalina, Rawdet Al Sayeda, Tahya Misr, Alexandria's Bashayer El Kheir, and others at a cost of LE61 billion ($3.9 billion).

Asmarat is the largest consisting of three phases containing a total 18,420 units. The current residents used to live in the slums of Ezbet Khair Allah, Tal Al Aqareb, Mansheyet Nasser, Al Doweiqa, Qaleat Al Kabsh, Al Mawardy, Istabl Anter, and Maspero Triangle. The value of the rent per month is LE300 but there is a plan to collaborate with charity organizations in order to exempt widows, divorced women, and the disabled.

There is an equivalent project in Alexandria dubbed Bashayer Al Khair so as its three phases have a total of 15,000 units.  

The two phases of Mahrousa include 4,776 units, while those of Ahalina comprise 2,696 units. Constructions in the second phase of Mahrousa and a third phase of Ahalina are still underway. Other projects that are still under progress are Al Khayala and Maan. The former is set to house 2,500 units, while the latter is planned to encompass 4,416 units.

Although Rawdet Al Sayeda is currently the smallest with just 816 units, four other phases will be added.

Additional reporting by Noha El Tawil