Egypt to develop major Cairo slum despite concerns of residents
Residents of Cairo's Maspero Triangle neighborhood are being asked to vacate their homes to make way for a new development project.
Egypt is moving ahead with a development project that will demolish a major slum in the heart of Cairo. Residents are concerned about relocation and whether they can afford to remain in the area once development works are complete.
The Maspero Triangle is a decades-old informal area close to the Nile River and behind the Foreign Ministry and the Maspero Radio and Television building. It's home to numerous small workshops and neighborhood shopping malls as well as five-star hotels along the Nile Corniche.
Given its strategic location, the Maspero Triangle is at the center of a government-led development project — set to cost 4 billion Egyptian pounds ($222 million) — that would transform the area into an investment and residential hub over three years. Before approving the start of the project, the Egyptian Ministry of Housing has offered local residents a set of compensation options, including: relocation to al-Asmarat neighborhood in Mokattam district in southeast Cairo, renting or buying a home in the area at an increased cost, or receiving cash compensation of 100,000 Egyptian pounds ($5,555).
Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail approved the project on April 1 at a meeting of the Higher Council of Planning and Urban Development that was attended by the Cairo governor and ministers of housing, culture, environment, agriculture and local development.
