Cairo Citadel Aqueduct area to be slum free in May 2022

CAIRO – 17 April 2022: Assistant Secretary of Cairo Municipal Authority Ibrahim Awad told Al watan newspaper Sunday that, within a month, the remainder of slum inhabitants at Cairo Citadel Aqueduct area will be moved to Al Khayala alternative-housing project as each family will be granted a fully-furnished unit.

Al Khayala is an alternative-housing project spanning over an area of 40 feddans (one feddan equals 4,500 acres), and consists of 42 nine-storey flat-buildings having a total of 2,268 residential units.

The official noted that 900 out of 1,600 families have been already moved, and that all the 520 flat-buildings in the slums of El Sokar wa Al Laymoun, Hosh Al Ghagar, and Al Gayara would be gone in the coming hew days.

Awad added that a list of the dwellers of Ezbet Wahba slum has been prepared, as the 300 flat-buildings existing there will be demolished in May and the residents will be given houses in state-built neighborhoods.

The other slums that were removed from Old Cairo, and whose residents were also granted fully-furnished flats are Ezbet Abou Qarn, Batn Al Baqara, and Tal Al Aqareb.

In a related context, Chairman of the Civil Development Fund Khaled Sediq told Al Watan newspaper earlier in April that five areas are being renovated within the first phase of the Historic Cairo rehabilitation plan.

Sediq noted that Historic Cairo, also known as Islamic Cairo and Medieval Cairo, was designated a World Heritage Site in 1979 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The five areas are the surroundings of Al Hakem Bi Amr Allah Mosque, Bab Zoweila, Darb Al Labana, Haret Al Rom, and Hussein Mosque. The ongoing works include restoring the exterior of buildings that enjoy constructional safety, and rebuilding news ones replacing those sold by owners to the government.

Speaking of unplanned areas, the fund's chairman noted that the total surface area of those is 152,000 feddans dispersed across 227 cities nationwide. Yet, the development of 10,037 feddans of those is ongoing.