CAIRO - The Government of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif is listening attentively to urban planners, who are confident that Cairo will have defeated its deadly foes catastrophic pollution, deafening noise, traffic chaos, slums and overcrowding in half a century's time. According to the 50-year rescue plan, laid on the table during a recent Cabinet meeting, the ageing capital will undergo extensive cosmetic surgery to help restore its beauty. The Government almost fainted when it was informed that the capital, which is struggling to cope up with 20 million residents at the moment, will collapse under the weight of 70 million in 2060. Security experts warn that, apart from the political and economic problems, overcrowding in Cairo is also a real threat to security and stability. The big development project will get rid of the slums on the outskirts of Cairo, replacing them with parks and other vast green areas. The poor people living in these slums will be moved to low-cost, more hygienic and sunlit housing units in the satellite towns of 15th of May City and 6th of October. A source inside the Cabinet, who had a brief a look at the chief objectives of the 50-year development project, told the press that it would consolidate Cairo's global reputation as the gateway to the African continent and the Middle East. “The capital will definitely be the region's gem in the region,” said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity, although he refused to divulge how much the ambitious project will cost. The governor of Cairo and the governmental ministers began to get worried when the number of slums encircling Greater Cairo, home to millions of people, many of them flocking in from the countryside, passed the 75 mark. The unnamed source has said that the elimination of these slums is a governmental priority, while the Government has been informed that its ambitious project will begin to bear fruit when the Cabinet headquarters and governmental offices are moved out of the city centre into any of the many urban communities, which are springing up on the outskirts of Greater Cairo. According to the mega-project, the upmarket Gam'et el-Diwal el-Arabia Street in Mohandiseen, Giza, will be upgraded. Meanwhile, about 24,000 families living in the Maspero area, behind the 24-floor Foreign Ministry building and the Egyptian Radio & Television Building, not far from the Egyptian Museum, will be evacuated from their slum homes, which will then be demolished. The entire area will benefit from major development, which is likely to include international-standard entertainment and theme parks. It is also thought that Boulaq Abul Ela, a neighbourhood near Maspero famous for its secondhand clothes market, will make way for an international business centre and tourist attractions. The 50-year plan will also see the residents of Nazlet el-Samman near the Giza Pyramids rehoused elsewhere, because their village is built in an area full of buried antiquities.
