A new project to repair the Algiers Kasbah includes a provision to provide businesses to young Algerian craftsmen.
The Algiers Kasbah is falling into ruin. To halt the decay, a plan was developed with the hope of saving this piece of architectural heritage.
After more than three years in development, a restoration strategy was submitted to the government at the beginning of February. The plan is expected to cost 56 billion dinars (559 million euros). The money will be used to help inhabitants restore their homes while enabling the government to repair utilities. Empty plots of land will also be converted to community spaces.
There are plans to restore 1,816 maisonettes, 776 houses and use 9,000 square metres of empty land for reconstruction purposes, according to the National Office for the Use of Cultural and Protected Assets. The new renovation effort will also tackle water supply, drainage and waste management issues.
Thirty percent of the old dwellings in the Kasbah are ruined, 50% have cracks in them, 10% are at risk of ruin and 10% are in disuse, according to a report drawn up for the reconstruction plan. The Kasbah is currently home to more than 50,000 inhabitants.
Business activity in the old town has also suffered from the disrepair. The repair programme includes a provision for the restoration of business premises which will be entrusted to young people in the Kasbah once they are trained in various crafts. Once a centre for Algerian craftsmanship, the Kasbah now has only 2,110 sets of premises, a third of which are not in use. Only one in seven is still being used for craft activity.
Over the years, authorities have made repeated attempts to restore the Kasbah, the first of which was in 1981. It was designated a historic site in 1991 and added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1992, but neither act halted the district's decline.
"Since 1962, we have spent 2.4 billion dinars on the Kasbah," said Abdelouahab Zekagh, CEO of the National Office for the Use of Cultural and Protected Assets. Speaking to national radio, he added that "11,000 homes have been allocated to re-house inhabitants of the Kasbah".
He also mentioned that the Kasbah was protected by several laws to preserve its authentic character and lamented that some owners have allowed their homes to fall into ruin so that they could then build others in a modern style.
The renovation plan "must be made a reality", local residents said at a February 22nd El Moudjahid forum in honour of National Kasbah Day (February 23rd). The Kasbah inhabitants asked that they be involved in a committee overseeing the reconstruction.
"We celebrate this event while forgetting that we are losing an important part of Algerian memory," stated Ali Mebtouche, the honorary president of the Kasbah Foundation. The historic city, he said, was "at risk of disappearing".
"In the past, you used to hear about houses collapsing now and then. But these days, its whole districts are falling into ruin only to be replaced by car parks, as in the case of the Djawab and Bahr El Ahmer districts," Mebtouche added.
The organisations that are working to save and protect the Kasbah have warmly welcomed the new plan and hope that it will at least save what remains of it.
Houria Bouhired, the president of the association known as Les Amis d'Alger - Sauvons la Kasbah (Friends of Algiers - Let's Save the Kasbah), has advocated for the creation of a committee bringing together all concerned parties so that the plan can be monitored and implemented effectively.
© Magharebia.com 2011
