Residents of a Cairo informal housing area were panicked into leaving their homes last week after subsidence in the surrounding area, reports Sarah Murad Last Thursday, residents of the Duweika informal housing area located in the Mokattam Hills outside Cairo spent the night in the open air fearing that cracks in the nearby stone cliffs would lead to subsidence and the demolition of their homes. The residents hurried to inform district officials of the events, saying that rocks were about to slide down on top of them and that small rocks had already started to fall. Around 45 homes were reported to have been evacuated before security forces cordoned off the area. The families were asked to sign documents as proof that they had agreed to the evacuation, and they were promised alternative housing next month. The Mokattam Hills around Cairo have recently been the scene of threats to people living there. In 2008, the Duweika area witnessed a serious rockslide that caused the deaths of 119 people and injuries to dozens of others. A technical committee commissioned by the Cairo governorate was dispatched to the area earlier this week. According to the committee's report, no rocks had fallen in the area, and the cracks in the cliff, though dangerous, had been present for some time. Seif Al-Islam Abdel-Bari, deputy governor of the western district of Cairo, told Al-Ahram Weekly that Duweika and the entire Mokattam Hills had been geologically unstable for a long time. "After the rockslide in 2008, around 22,000 families were relocated far from the rocky area," Abdel-Bari said, adding that the governorate was now working on providing Duweika residents with alternative housing units. However, Abdel-Bari added that some Duweika residents had used the situation to get free housing units from the government. "Then they sell the units, take the money, and go back to living in their old shacks," he said. According to Abdel-Bari, brokers sometimes take part in the business. "That's why we give apartments only to those who have official documents proving that they are house owners," he added. But the situation seems very different to the families living in Duweika. Residents said the report prepared by the geological committee was untrue, and Asmaa Mohamed, who has lived in Duweika since 2008, told the Weekly that residents had felt the rocks moving on Thursday, the first time since the disastrous incident in 2008. "Everyone felt it, and if you look at the rock it is obvious how cracked it is. It is about to fall. The government always waits for disasters to happen and then starts to think about how to solve them," she said. The governorate's decision to give new housing units only to house owners was viewed by many residents as unfair, on the grounds that many of the inhabitants were technically homeless. "I have a house of my own, but I find it unjust to kick other families out and leave them with no shelter. These people are not thugs or liars. They just need places to stay," said Mohamed Ali, another resident. The residents criticised official moves made within the past few days as being insufficient. "They came to check the rock, told us that nothing was wrong and made us sign some papers. Then they left. That was all," one of the residents said. According to the government, Duweika residents are opposed to moving to 6 October city and prefer to remain in Duweika, where they say they can find work and earn their living. However, residents said that they would be ready to move when new housing units were provided for them. One of the area's previous residents, who now lives in the Suzanne Mubarak housing project in the area, said that apartments there had originally been provided for free, but they had then been asked to pay a monthly rent in addition to other expenses for water and electricity. He said he hoped this would not be the case regarding the new homes awaiting the Duweika residents. Talking about possible reasons behind the rock cracks, the Duweika residents cited the current construction projects underway in the Mokattam Hills and managed by an international company. "They blow up the rocks using dynamite in order to build there. They also use too much water to grow plants and gardens," the residents said. Another reason they gave was the presence of gangs, who dig in search of minerals and archaeological remains. "We do not live like human beings. We will accept anything but the danger we experience every second that rocks might slide down on us. We go on patrols every night, and some people remain awake at night in case something happens. Some of us sleep in the streets." "We want our right to survive. We just want a place to stay and feel safe," the residents said.
