CAIRO - Many people have been killed or seriously injured when illegally constructed buildings have collapsed in places like Ard el-Lewa in Giza, Loran in the coastal city of Alexandria and Nasr City in northeastern Cairo. Many of these 'towers of death' are more than ten floors high and are built without licences. They are often built very close together. The building Mafia gets away with this by bribing local council officials. Greater Cairo and Alexandria suffer most from these towers of death and urgent steps must be taken against the Mafia responsible for their construction. In fact, building violations have been on the increase since the recent revolution, in the light of the absence of police and municipal officials. Aboud Hamdi, an employee, notes that there have been many violations in el-Qaliubia Governorate, Greater Cairo, especially in rural areas, where 12-storey tower blocks are mushrooming in narrow streets in rural districts. Such illegal buildings are also being illegally provided with utilities such as electricity, drinking water and gas. The owners of these buildings make a fortune, while the people who live there are the ones who suffer when they collapse. Besides, they often suffer from sewerage problems, because these heavily populated skyscrapers are built so close together. Hamdi also regrets that these building are illegally constructed on cultivated land, especially in Meit Nama and Shubra in el-Qaliubia Governorate. Atef Abdel-Hamid, another civil servant, told Al-Massai'ya newspaper that he regrets that bribed officials benefit from the construction of these buildings, rather than the State. “My family and I suffered when a high rise was built next door to us in Manshiyet Gebril [near el-Bassateen in Helwan Governorate] a couple of years ago,” he explained. “The 12-storey building was run up in only four months. It was so close to our building that a demolition order was slapped on our building! Why did we have to suffer and not the violators?” he asked. Abdel-Hamid supports the Cairo Governor's decision to demolish all illegal buildings, as well as punishing the builders and the council officials who let the construction go ahead. “When illegally built blocks are demolished or collapse, the people in neighbouring blocks should be compensated if their homes are damaged in the process,” he added. Mohamed Orabi, a member of Giza Local Council, says that the Government should swiftly tackle this problem, which threatens the lives of millions of citizens. “In Greater Cairo, these towers of death are to be found in Ezbet el-Hagana [a district of Nasr City in Cairo Govenorate] and in el-Kom el-Akhdar, Haram, Talbia, Omrania and Imbaba, all in Giza Governorate,” Orabi explains, also regretting that the State is losing out. Ramadan Moussa, another civil servant, agrees, warning of further disasters, because many buildings are constructed without governmental supervision. Makram Ibrahim, a senior municipal official, says that one thing that needs to be done to prevent further disasters is to limit the number of floors that can be built in any new block of flats.
