The government has responded to October's housing protests with an ambitious resettlement program for Algerians.
By Walid Ramzi for Magharebia in Algiers – 30/03/10
Algerian authorities have launched the country's largest resettlement program in history.
"After 40 years of suffering, destitution, despair and oppression, life has been restored to us," Deyar al-Shams resident Ahmed Bournan said. "We are born anew after we were almost dead."
Bournan is one of several families in Deyar al-Shams to benefit from the government's ramped-up construction efforts. One resident, Zakia, lived with her children in a shantytown for ten years before receiving their new home. Another, Sabri Ammar, suffered under high winter humidity and a leaky roof with his family of eight until they moved.
Aqeela Zeytouni and her family of 10 lived in extreme destitution for 35 years, she said. Her family had never known stability or hope until the Algeria's resettlement program found her a new home, Zeytouni said.
The government launched a ramped up resettlement program March 13th in the wake of last October's protests in neighborhoods like Deyar al-Shams. Authorities plan to build 70,000 new houses per year as part of the program, Minister of Housing and Urbanization Nordine Moussa said. The ministry has already marked 550,000 homes for demolition over the next four years, he said.
Four main cities – Algiers, Annaba, Oran and Constantine – host 15% of the country's run-down housing units, Moussa said. The program targets 45,000 families for resettlement in the capital alone and plans the construction of 10,000 housing units in the city by the end of the year.
About 600 slums populate the capital, Algiers Housing Directorate director Mohamed Ismail said. Each hosts between 10 and 2,000 residents.
Occupants of dense slums, dilapidated buildings and homes damaged in Algeria's 2003 earthquake will benefit from the government's housing program, he said. About 8% of Algerian's homes are unsafe or inadequate.
Eliminating substandard buildings, constructing new houses and resettling residents will cost an estimated 88 billion dinars per 35,000 housing units, Ismail said. The government has earmarked more than 140 billion dinars for the program.
The new resettlement program outlines seven stages in the capital: first, the evacuation of densely-populated slums; the evacuation of residents who occupy buildings marked as condemned in technical reports; the evacuation of densely populated neighborhood residents in the heart of the capital; the resettlement of residents living in pre-fabricated housing units; the resettlement of residents of dilapidated buildings in Casbah and the surrounding areas; the evacuation of residents living in graveyards; and the relocation of residents in the municipalities.
The government has commissioned about 270,000 homes since the second half of 2007. About 125,000 homes are scheduled for construction, and building efforts have begun on about 143,000.
Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/03/30/feature-02.
By Walid Ramzi for Magharebia in Algiers – 30/03/10
Algerian authorities have launched the country's largest resettlement program in history.
"After 40 years of suffering, destitution, despair and oppression, life has been restored to us," Deyar al-Shams resident Ahmed Bournan said. "We are born anew after we were almost dead."
Bournan is one of several families in Deyar al-Shams to benefit from the government's ramped-up construction efforts. One resident, Zakia, lived with her children in a shantytown for ten years before receiving their new home. Another, Sabri Ammar, suffered under high winter humidity and a leaky roof with his family of eight until they moved.
Aqeela Zeytouni and her family of 10 lived in extreme destitution for 35 years, she said. Her family had never known stability or hope until the Algeria's resettlement program found her a new home, Zeytouni said.
The government launched a ramped up resettlement program March 13th in the wake of last October's protests in neighborhoods like Deyar al-Shams. Authorities plan to build 70,000 new houses per year as part of the program, Minister of Housing and Urbanization Nordine Moussa said. The ministry has already marked 550,000 homes for demolition over the next four years, he said.
Four main cities – Algiers, Annaba, Oran and Constantine – host 15% of the country's run-down housing units, Moussa said. The program targets 45,000 families for resettlement in the capital alone and plans the construction of 10,000 housing units in the city by the end of the year.
About 600 slums populate the capital, Algiers Housing Directorate director Mohamed Ismail said. Each hosts between 10 and 2,000 residents.
Occupants of dense slums, dilapidated buildings and homes damaged in Algeria's 2003 earthquake will benefit from the government's housing program, he said. About 8% of Algerian's homes are unsafe or inadequate.
Eliminating substandard buildings, constructing new houses and resettling residents will cost an estimated 88 billion dinars per 35,000 housing units, Ismail said. The government has earmarked more than 140 billion dinars for the program.
The new resettlement program outlines seven stages in the capital: first, the evacuation of densely-populated slums; the evacuation of residents who occupy buildings marked as condemned in technical reports; the evacuation of densely populated neighborhood residents in the heart of the capital; the resettlement of residents living in pre-fabricated housing units; the resettlement of residents of dilapidated buildings in Casbah and the surrounding areas; the evacuation of residents living in graveyards; and the relocation of residents in the municipalities.
The government has commissioned about 270,000 homes since the second half of 2007. About 125,000 homes are scheduled for construction, and building efforts have begun on about 143,000.
Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/03/30/feature-02.
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