Families are out in the cold in Boulaq Abul-Ela after being evicted from their homes to clear the rubble of five buildings which collapsed. Reem Leila exposes an often corrupt and ineffective housing licensing system On the afternoon of 26 January, at 3.30pm, residents of Mohamed Qassem, an alleyway in the downtown area of Boulaq Abul-Ela, found themselves in free fall when a five-storey building which was home to more than 25 people collapsed, killing three of its residents and injuring five others. Rescue workers recovered bodies from underneath the rubble, and the injured were taken to a nearby hospital. Rescue workers are still searching for bodies that might still be buried under the debris. As it tumbled down, the building took down with it four neighbouring houses, home to nearly 100 residents, but neither fatalities nor injuries were reported. Local authorities evicted inhabitants of the adjacent houses fearing they, too, might fall. Most families were unable to retrieve their belongings before either the collapse or subsequent eviction, and the streets remain strewn with broken furniture, torn clothes and other household items. Families, too, are now on the street, homeless, camping next to the wreckage of their former lives. Boulaq Abul-Ela MP Hesham Mustafa Khalil claims he will do his utmost to provide the 30 homeless families with alternative housing either in Dar Al-Salam city or Al-Nahda Al-Gadida. "The Cairo governor has promised there will be an immediate solution for the residents of the five-storey house which collapsed," Khalil told Al-Ahram Weekly. Abdel-Azim Wazir, the Cairo governor, has provided homeless residents with just one apartment, seven hot meals of koshari (a mix of rice, macaroni and lentils) and 10 blankets, and promised to allocate seven more apartments for the residents of the other affected houses. The collapse of the Boulaq Abul-Ela building comes in the wake of another ill-fated residential structure, the Loran building in Alexandria, in which 35 people died when it collapsed in December last year. The tragedy of Boulaq Abul-Ela also adds to the growing list of homeless people whose fate has yet to be decided. A fire that swept through the vast shanty town of Qalaat Al-Kabsh last year displaced 70 residents out of a total 150 families. And 23 families are still without a roof over the heads in Kafr Al-Elou after the government bulldozed their homes in order to make way for a water facility. In every case, the government has pledged that nobody would be thrown out onto the streets but not all vows have been kept. "The government does not really care about us and will leave us to rot in the open air," says Intisar Shehata, a resident of one of the houses that collapsed in Boulaq. It is a conclusion echoed by the vast majority of residents, understandably so given the way families were left fending for themselves in the winter weather. Khalil said he is determined to swiftly solve the problem and to make sure that the concerned authorities will not ignore the plight of the newly homeless. Buildings regularly collapse in Egypt, either as a result of deterioration as time passes or shoddy construction that fails to meet standards and regulations. Some owners illegally add on more floors, thus destabilising the whole structure. Boulaq Abul-Ela residents stated that the local municipality authority has never previously ordered the building to be demolished or renovated ever since it was built. Officials have started to investigate whether the building fell because of the heavy rains which preceded its collapse, or whether because there was something seriously wrong with the building's structure in the first place. According to Adel Sedki, head of the Boulaq Abul-Ela district, there are many houses in the area that must be demolished, "because they pose a great danger to people's lives. Demolishing and eviction orders were issued to residents of the collapsed building," Sedki said. "Unfortunately the buildings collapsed before the orders were carried out." High rental rates and living expenses usually make it difficult for middle and lower class individuals to find alternative housing. "The government cannot provide alternative houses to all citizens, especially when they violate the law and regulations. Only the neediest will get an alternative residence," Sedki said. Mohamed Mursi, a construction engineer, blames administrative delays and loopholes in the law for hindering the demolition of unlicensed floors. One major obstacle is that there is no special police department assigned to carry out demolition orders. Mursi told the Weekly, "to execute a demolition order, we always request the help of security forces to prevent potential violence on the part of landlords and residents." At best, he said, that was a very long-drawn-out procedure. "Landlords make use of those administrative delays to quickly add extra floors," Mursi said. "And when those floors are inhabited, it just becomes impractical to go through with the demolition order." Instead, the district engineering department examines the building and if found safe, the landlord will be asked to pay a fine in return for "reconciliation" with the government. According to Mursi, such reconciliation would also provide legality for the extra unlicensed floors as well as abrogate the demolition order. Fines would range from LE500 to LE1,200 a handsome sum that governorate officials said ends up being used to build housing for low-income families. Administrative officials also use loopholes in the law as a pretext to halt demolitions. "District officials may claim funds are not available to tear down unlicensed buildings, or that the police are not providing the necessary number of security forces needed to carry out a demolition order." The law also states that a demolition order cannot be carried out if an apartment is locked, Mursi said. According to Mursi, the desks of district officials are stacked high with bundles of reports on building violations. "There are at least 600 time bombs in Boulaq Abul-Ela in the form of illegal houses and buildings. Not a single safety measure exists, posing a serious threat to the inhabitants. District officials are fully aware of these blatant violations," Mursi maintained, "yet do not take any action against them. They only move when a catastrophe happens."
