CAIRO: More than 50 Maadi residents protested the construction of the Technological Park on Friday, saying it will congest the already jammed Maadi streets. The project is set to be a huge call center, the first of its kind in the Middle East: 40 buildings spread ovr an area of 80 feddans — a project expected to generate 80,000 jobs directly and indirectly. "We demand that this huge area be used as an open green space, a club or even a multi-storey garage and moving this project to the outskirts of Cairo," Amr Abu El Ela, founder of the Facebook group against the project, told Daily News Egypt. "The area is already congested; it takes one hour to get in or out of Maadi on an average day," he added The project, located on the eastern side of Maadi, is surrounded by the residential areas of Degla, New Maadi, Al Zahraa and the Autostrade Road; it lies on the line separating Cairo and Helwan governorates. Last February, Minister of Communication and Information Technology Tarek Kamel inaugurated the first phase of the project, laying its infrastructure and launching the construction of three buildings. Residents filed a complaint two years ago to Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and met the governors of Cairo and Helwan. However, they received no response as they were told by each side that it isn't under the authority of their governorate. "No urban planner would approve putting such a project in such a congested residential area, the most densely populated part of Maadi and between three neighborhoods," said Mostafa Niazi, a Maadi resident. According to Niazi, the project would block Maadi entrances from the Ring Road and the Corniche, as well as clog traffic heading to Helwan suburbs. The area surrounding the project witnessed major traffic changes as many roundabouts were re-directed, parking was prohibited in surrounding streets and several streets were enlarged. "We will stand behind our cause, because this is our life," Niazi said.
