Land of leaning building may be sold in public auction

CAIRO – 17 August 2017: The land on which the leaning building in Alexandria was built on will be sold in a public auction, if the cost of its demolition is not paid by residents, according to a comment by Azarita neighborhood municipality president Ali Morsi on Wednesday.

The date of the auction has not been set yet, as residents still have the opportunity to pay LE 659,000 ($37,058). The land has been put under the control of the municipality since July 29. Up till now, no resident has paid his/her share in the due amount.

In case of demolition, the building’s owner pays for demolition costs. As all flats in the buildings are owned by residents, they equally bear the responsibility of covering that debt.

Morsi told Egypt Today that the General Committee for Buildings Vulnerable to Collapse issued a decree for demolishing five of the surrounding buildings due to unsafe structure.

A 12-storey building in Al-Azarita, an Alexandrian neighborhood, leaned over another building on July 1 due to structural damage. All 19 resident families were evacuated from both buildings. No injuries or deaths have been reported.

A municipal decision in 2004 had ordered the building be demolished after it was found to have a slight lean caused in part by the unlawful construction of extra floors.

The decision was not executed because residents refused to evacuate the building.