Plan to develop Attaba Market damaged by fire

CAIRO - 22 July 2019: Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly held a meeting on Monday to examine plans for developing the Attaba Market of Cairo’s Mosky neighborhood.

The meeting was attended by Minister of Culture Inas Abdel Dayem, Cairo Governor Khaled Abdel Aal, Deputy Cairo Governor Ibrahim Abdel Hady, Chairman of General Authority for Urban Planning Ibrahim Abdel Hady, and other officials.

The project was put forward by President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi after a fire had broken out in the market in June. The plan will take into account the historic architecture of the market and ensure the preservation of its patrimonic gates. Most importantly, fire avoidance features will be introduced.

The prime minister communicated with Minister of Endowments Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa since the ministry is the market’s owner. Madbouly urged the minister to empty the market from tenants given its unsafe status.

The governor said that the screening carried out by the ministry and Cairo Municipal Authority showed that the market houses 460 shops. Of those, 180 were destroyed by the fire. The governor explained that the cause of the fire is the rise in the number of unlicensed and unplanned shops which made the entry and exit gates much narrower, undermining the market’s civil protection plan.

The governor affirmed that the Ministry of Endowments will review the validity and legality of the contracts, and that it will fine violators while demolishing their shops.

The governor presented a proposal that included the restoration of the metal ceiling, truss and walls, installment of an accredited firefighting and alarm systems that are connected to the General Department for Civil Protection, establishing a new electrical network as the existing one is completely outdated, and hiring a company to manage the market. Such management would check the market daily and set the working hours.

The market was inaugurated in 1892 and spans over 5,200 square meters. It lies in an area that links the streets of Al Atar, Al Azhar, and Al Morgan and consists of 12 internal corridors.