CAIRO: Emaar Egypt, a subsidiary of UAE-based Emaar Properties, has been accused of partial responsibility for the Duweiqa rockslide disaster that has so far caused the death of 95 people. In a complaint submitted to the Prosecutor General, the "Citizens Against Price Hikes group specifically alleged that work on the Emaar development project Uptown Cairo on the Moqattam hill, had contributed to the rockslide in Duweiqa, according to local press reports. The claimants state that the watering of large swathes of land for the project contributed to the further erosion of the rocks that were already being watered down due to sewage leaked through the mountain. Geologist Yehia Qandeel concurs with this view, saying at a protest at the Journalists' Syndicate last Saturday that the Emaar project in Moqattam did partially contribute in the erosion of the rocks. "In the construction of the Emaar project, the developers dug into the mountain to create lakes thus adding even more water that would seep in between the rocks, loosening them. This creates an expansion between the rocks, he said. Emaar could not be reached for comment on the accusations. Uptown Cairo comprises eleven villages over 4 million square meters in Moqattam. It also includes private clubs, golf courses, swimming pools and hotels. The main gist of the group's complaint accused government officials and businessmen of selling public land to themselves for a fraction of its real value. The land was then resold for huge profits to numerous development projects, one of which was Uptown Cairo. Meanwhile Housing Minister Ahmed El-Maghrabi has prohibited ministry officials from commenting on accusations by Cairo Governor Abdel-Azim Wazir that the ministry was partially responsible for the disaster. Wazir said that in 1998 the Ministry was commissioned by the government to provide new housing in Duweiqa with a grant from the Abu Dhabi National Fund. Wazir felt that the project should have been carried out by the governorate, and not the Housing Ministry. The governor also criticized the fact that 2,500 flats were promised by El-Maghrabi to residents of the area last May but were only handed out after the disaster. Residents of Duweiqa staged a sit-in Tuesday on the steps of the Journalists' Syndicate alongside members of the Kefaya movement and the April 6 youth movement.
