CAIRO — Ahmed Adel, owner of a flower nursery in the Maadi area in the south of Cairo, was surprised early to receive in July a notice from the government that he should leave the nursery and move his belongings to another location. The notice came as part of the Ministry of Transport’s decision to establish a new axis along the famous Street 250 in the Maadi neighborhood where there are hundreds of shops and flower nurseries.

Adel told Al-Monitor he contacted several owners and renters of shops on Street 250 to mobilize them to take legal action and stand together against the evictions. But "when they went to the governorate's general office to file a complaint, they were informed that the decision to establish the axis would not be reversed in any way,” he said

Regarding the expected financial compensation for those affected by the decision, another owner of a nursery on the same street told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity they were informed there will be no compensation for their expulsion from their workplaces, especially since “this expulsion serves the public interest.”

On a Facebook group called “Maadi Refuses the Axis,” more than 12,000 residents and property and shop owners in Maadi expressed their opposition to the government project.