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Egypt: ‘dilapidated’ homes to be demolished to build tower blocks

January 6, 2022 at 2:34 pm

A picture taken on April 29, 2018 shows a general view of a government-demolished slum in Cairo [KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/Getty Images]

The Cairo Governorate in Egypt is planning to demolish the Sixth District in Nasr City and replace the homes there with residential tower blocks, the state-owned Akhbar Al-Youm has reported. The local government claims that many of the buildings set to be pulled down are already “dilapidated”.

Property owners will be compensated in cash or will have apartments rented for them until the completion of the development project. They will then return to the area. The governorate is likely to set compensation for a 90 square metre unit at 135,000 Egyptian pounds, despite the market value being at least 350,000.

State facilities are already being transferred elsewhere pending the development. The one-day surgery hospital affiliated with the Ministry of Health and Population, for example, and the Nasr City Youth Centre affiliated with the Ministry of Youth and Sports have been moved.

The newspaper’s source said that the project will be included within the presidential initiative announced by Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi on 28 December to provide 100,000 furnished housing units for rent and make them available to newly-married couples. The president has also discussed the possibility of banning all building projects for ten years, except for those supervised by the state.

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