Crash and row on the West Bank - Part II

What's at the bottom of it?

Nobody has an answer to this question, but the rumour factory is busy. And from the official sides there are just some vague information about the reason for the demolishing of up to now about 30 new buildings on the banks of the Nile, but also about the procedure of the demolition contractors. Only one point seems to be clear: who invested in Ramlah in land or houses still can loose it.

A short review. Ten years ago the green strip of land along the Nile was farmland. Just a few houses were build there. Two and a half years ago starting from the meanwhile existing village Ramlah (we took the photograph above from a boat in March 2003) south of the public ferry we strolled to the "Pharaoh Village" (in front of "Novotel" on the East Bank), some hundred metres more south through fields and jumped across ditches. Idyllic country life. Huge parts of the lowland during summertime were flooded.

Within a very short period of time a little satellite town was built. In cramped surroundings - the plots of land there mostly are very small - meanwhile one house pesters close to the next one along the Nile. The prices for land were sky-rocking. Farmland suddenly became valuable development area. A game seeming without upper limit started.

The owner is always the government

It really was a game the "owners" of the land were playing. A lot of them suddenly were smelling the big business with the land along the Nile. Although everybody knew that it belongs to the government, althoug that it was proved as farmland. For each grad (ca. 174 sqms) of this farmland every year they had to pay a lease of around LE 250. And even if somebody bought a piece of land for the price of sometimes more than LE 100.000, he never was the owner for that land but just for the leasing contract. Never with this contract any planning permission was connected.

But still it was build like crazy. At this time the double game started. Civil servants of the City Council - against a appropriate Bakshish - turned a blind eye to the speculators. Of course never somebody will admit. The illegal constructors have been encouraged when the government provided their estates with power and water supply. At least that buildings located between the jetties of the private motor boats and the new constructed mosque (left). All actions seemed to be safe, officially recognized (even they signed contracts with a notice that it is in the hand of the supplier to stop electricity and water at any time). So the government has everything up it's sleeve.

After the business in the northern part of Ramlah started successful, after houses were sold for a lot of money to foreigners, the building boom continued. Nile view was available only south of the mosque. Therefore also there buildings suddenly were mushroom up - but without any water and power supply. Everybody was supposing the same developement than in the northern part. But now the dream of the quick money comes to nothing (picture above shows a part of the demolition area).

"All houses have to be removed"

General Dessouky El Banna (right), Luxor's governor since August 2002, doesn't like to talk about the demolition command. Negative headlines damage the reputation of Luxor, where nearly all the inhabitants are living from tourism. So for the moment he is following a simple justification: "The land from the mountains in the west till the river Nile is archaeological area. Principally buildings are not allowed." Aha!

That means thousands of people are living illegal on the West Bank. All of them will be driven out of their homes? "No, of course not", the general is smiling. "But now new constructions are forbidden."

And what is special with Ramlah? "North of Qena in Nag Hamadi a dam is under construction, that will be finished in about one year. Then the Nile here will be five to six metres higher, Ramlah is threatened to be flooded. We want to protect the people from this stroke of fates. In that area now new constructions and houses for rent are forbidden." And then he added: "All houses in this area have to be removed!"

General El Banna's first argument doesn't hold water. Since thousands of years Ramlah was a flooded area. Therefore archaelogical discoveries there are nearly out of question. In contrary the story about the flooding of the southern area under the present circumstances sounds logic. Even now the foundations of some of the new buildings during summertime are under water (picture below was taken in summer 2003). Mostly winter is the time of selling... (Text Wolfgang Sliwka)