Cairo governor refers Shubra district head to investigations over house collapse

CAIRO – 23 September 2018: Cairo governor Khaled Abdul Aal Saturday referred head of Shubra district Hany Ahmed Youssef to investigations due to his delay in handling the house collapse in Shubra district, which left two dead and injured others.

Abdul Aal also ordered that measures be taken to establish hosting a center for the affected people and the disbursement of an urgent subsidy from Social Solidarity to provide for their daily needs.

2017 witnessed the collapse of several buildings. The recent collapse of many buildings highlights the longtime problem of construction in Egypt, the effects of poor maintenance, violations of building codes, and illegal extensions and constructions.

The latest tragedy happened because of violating construction codes. The initial collapse of one of the buildings resulted in the crumbling of the two adjacent buildings due to poor infrastructure, leaving two people dead, including a four-year-old girl, and seven more injured.

One of the recent incidents is the collapse of a three-story building in Qena governorate on Dec. 17, resulting in the deaths of two women and injuring another, in addition to causing damage to neighboring buildings, which were evacuated.

In another two incidents in March, caused by illegal extensions, two buildings collapsed in Cairo’s Boulaq district, leaving at least five injured. Also, a building fell in Cairo’s Garden City district, where 10 people were injured.

Fourteen people were injured and a five-month-old infant died after a building collapsed east of Sohag on Aug. 8.

To combat this phenomenon, the Egyptian Parliament has discussed the unified construction law No. 119 during a meeting held on July 18, 2016, to submit amendments to the law. The law is aimed at those who violate the license and will impose fines, prison sentences or higher utility tariffs.

Besides illegal constructions, Egypt is plagued by unplanned construction and poor infrastructure. There are 400 areas of unplanned housing, with a population in excess of 7 million.