A classic case of when the cats are away, the mice will play. Construction contractors in Alexandria have illegally demolished or erected thousands of illegal buildings in a few weeks, according to council authorities in Egypt’s second-largest city, taking advantage of the “total absence” of the responsible authorities during the holiday season.

A classic case of when the cats are away, the mice will play. Construction contractors in Alexandria have illegally demolished or erected thousands of illegal buildings in a few weeks, according to council authorities in Egypt’s second-largest city, taking advantage of the “total absence” of the responsible authorities during the holiday season.

Hasan Salam, head of the Alexandria Operations Room, says that in one month more than 2,000 illegal properties in different neighborhoods were reported to her office; most in Jomrok, the first and second Montazah and the first and second Raml. Salam claims up to 60,000 houses have recently been torn down or built in the city without proper regulation or oversight.

Construction contractors exploited the long holidays to demolish many of Alexandria’s archeological buildings, including the historical Cicurel Villa, and replace them with residential constructions. Contractors waged ferocious demolition schedules – reminiscent of the wave of unlicensed building which followed the revolutions of January 24 and June 30 – during the recent Eid Al-Adha and Hijri New Year holidays.

Falling like dominos

According to the governorate council, there were 2,000 illegal building demolition cases in a single day. At least 1,600 of these were turned into residential towers: yet the government did nothing about it and did not charge the perpetrators. Despite the promises made by many consecutive governors to put an end to illegal building, the most recent holidays witnessed the demolition of the historical Cicurel Villa in the Rushdi neighborhood, a century-old tribute to Art Deco.

Cicurel Villa was World Heritage-listed although the contractor claims he had a removal order from an administrative court and the building had been removed from the heritage list. Dr Mohamad Awad, head of Heritage Preservation Committee, denies the demolition was legal, saying the contractor should be held accountable. Dr Awad claims a court had released an order to protect the building.

Since the January 25 Revolution in 2011, Alexandrian residents launched social media campaigns under the slogans ‘Save Alexandria’ and ‘No to Demolishing Cicurel Villa.’ Since the building’s demolition in October this year, the campaign has turned to ire on Facebook, with activists calling for the prosecution of the contractor responsible.

Other historical buildings have also recently been demolished in the governorate. The ancient Mohamed Afifi Pasha Palace, located next to the Saraya building in the Stanli area on the governorate’s corniche, was also destroyed.

“We were surprised to see a contractor starting demolishing the villa using a wench and heavy equipment despite the fact that the building dates back to 1944,” said Mohamed Asmara, a local resident who witnessed the demoliton. He says the building was owned by an Italian.

Three historical buildings were also demolished in the Bahri neighborhood in the Jomrok district during the Eid Al-Adha holiday. They were replaced with a 20-meter-long residential tower.

Dr. Mohamed Awad said he filed a complaint to the governorate. The corniche in the Jomrok neighborhood (Bahri and Anfoushi) was built after the Italian and Greek styles and remains a highly-sought heritage area, says Awad.

Easy crime

Ibrahim Malak, a contractor in the Asafera district which is administered by the Second Montazah Police Station, says contractors exploit the holiday season to finish all the illegal operations of demolition, building and restoration.

“Getting demolition licenses is a tiring process. It takes six months and building licenses require land inspection by an archeological committee, which might take up to a year and a half, during which contractors pay millions in wages and costs of equipment,” Malak told Correspondents. “This makes illegal building a more attractive option.” This is why contractors take advantage of officials’ “total absence” during key holidays, he adds.

Malak says holidays provide a golden opportunity for contractors to finish their works unseen by officials. Demolishing and leveling a 300-meter property requires only 8 hours. Some places do not require foundations or supporting columns and building a 10-storey building might require only one week.

Malak adds that the contractors and owners move people in to the buildings during construction. This is a loophole contractors exploit – official removal orders may not be enforced if the illegal building already has inhabitants. Such cases are referred to the justice department and a default judgment is issued against the nominal owner of the property. The process causes delays and the contractors meanwhile can complete their desired project.

Lack of state capacity

Major General Adel Salama, head of the Montazah Neighborhood, retorts that his office runs operation rooms even during holidays in cooperation with the governorate to receive complaints. These include complaints related to illegal demolition and building.

“During Eid Al-Adha holiday, the operations room of the Second Montazah neighborhood received about 40 complaints related to illegal building and demolition attempts, which were immediately tackled,” Major General Adel Salama told Correspondents.

Salama stresses that there are a lot of illegal building and demolition operations which the governorate cannot stop because the reports reach his office too late. “The governorate can do nothing after they are finished,” says Salama. He admits that the state lacks the resources or manpower to tackle the volume of the problem.

Ahmed Abdulmoneim, a lawyer, says that contractors exploit legal loopholes and holidays represent a great opportunity to finish illegal activities. “Punishment, in most violations, does not exceed receiving an offence record and paying a fine,” Abdulmoneim told Correspondents.

“Time bomb”

Hussein Juma, head of the Association of Property Preservation, describes illegal buildings in Alexandria as a “time bomb”. He asks the governorate to increase its alertness and form follow-up and monitoring committees to put an end to the illegal urban re-engineering. He emphasized the need to unite the efforts of security forces, community committees and the governorate.

Juma stresses that allowing the latest wave of demolitions to pass without punishment for the perpetrators sensd the message that there is a green light for such destruction. He says punishments should be tightened and illegal properties guarded and sold by the governorate.