Thursday, 9 October in the Hay Mohammadi district. Achouhada Boulevard, which leads to the "Kissaria - Hay Mohammadi", is empty. An unusual landscape for this artery that is usually teeming with life. The sellers, more precisely the owners of stalls (ferracha), as well as their tables, have simply disappeared. "The traders are not on Eid Al-Adha holidays. Their stalls were removed following a decision by the local authorities," a resident of Carrières Centrales tells us. This shanty town also housed "shop-shacks" that have been razed. "The demolition operation concerned the tables of the 'ferracha' as well as the unnumbered shacks installed or rather added illicitly," explains Said Atik, President of the Chihab association, which defends the right of the inhabitants of Carrières Centrales to have decent housing.
Indeed, the bulldozers arrived at the scene at the beginning of the week. Accompanied by law enforcement, their drivers had instructions to raze the tables of the "ferracha", the installations occupying the public domain, as well as the shacks that are not listed on the prefecture's lists. "The people concerned received a visit from a commission chaired by the city's mayor, Mohamed Sajid, before the Eid. The latter warned them of the destruction order and gave them an ultimatum of three days after the festival of sacrifice to vacate the space. A decision that was respected by all," we learn from a resident of Carrières Centrales.
Given the conditions under which the demolitions took place, it can be seen that those concerned complied with the decision of the urban commune and the local authorities. Unlike the usual images marking the operations of demolition and eradication of the "ferracha", no sit-in was organised on the spot. A single decision was enough to "chase away" nearly 2,000 people who had been installed for more than 40 years on Achouhada Boulevard. It must be said that the bulldozers were also merciless. They piled up the pieces of wood that served until last week as stalls for fruit, vegetables, bread, kitchen utensils, food products, clothes... These machines, protected by a few units of law enforcement, also "infiltrated" closed shop-shacks by forcing the pieces of zinc and curtains that served as doors.
Faced with this image, the traders could not help but lament their fate. Some of them deplored financial losses. "Some traders left their goods inside the shops. But they are the only ones responsible for the damage since they were warned," says one of those concerned. Despite the impression of submission that is emerging on the faces in Hay Mohammadi, a taste of bitterness reigns in the area.
A bitterness that could translate into anger once the Eid Al-Adha holidays are over. It should be noted that the population of this legendary district of the economic capital is known for its dynamism. The majority of families live on the resources of the informal trade. "Admittedly, a large part of the traders on Achouhada Boulevard made a fortune during the past years thanks to an activity that does not require the payment of tax or rent, but more than 1,000 people have no other financial resource apart from the informal trade. This part of the sellers has families, school-age children, sick people... to take care of," stresses the President of the Chihab association. "The ban on the 'ferracha' will only increase the crime rate in the region." And he adds that one must think of a radical solution instead of a ban that risks being temporary. It should be noted that the project for a pilot market built by city officials near the poultry market to house the "ferracha" of Hay Mohammadi was doomed to failure. Its location never seduced the traders concerned. For its part, the Chihab association had proposed in 2008 to relocate the street vendors of "Kissariat-Hay Mohammadi" to the Lahraouyine district near the housing and plots of land granted to the inhabitants of Carrières Centrales.
This same association had also proposed a relocation behind the Mohammed V hospital also located in Hay Mohammadi. For the moment, no solution has yet been defined. One thing is certain, the local residents who complained about noise pollution are relieved.
According to a well-informed source, the multiple complaints from residents are behind the decision to free up the public domain previously occupied by the "ferracha". "Following a series of complaints, dozens of local authority agents, teams from the Auxiliary Forces, and others from the Ain Sebaâ-Hay Mohammadi prefecture carried out forceful raids for several days and also on Thursday morning. This campaign aims to free the public domain from the grip of street vendors," she indicates. And to stress: "The inhabitants of Hay Mohammadi, one of the largest districts in the metropolis, have organised several demonstrations to demand an end to the growing phenomenon of the occupation of streets and alleys by street vendors coming from neighbouring districts." "This phenomenon has gone beyond the occupation of the public domain. We had to endure not only the proliferation of carts but also drug trafficking and verbal and physical assaults. In fact, we cannot accept a temporary relocation of these sellers and cart owners who have appropriated the premises," says a resident of the district. This feeling of insecurity mobilised the city's authorities and pushed them to take a decision said to be definitive, until proven otherwise.
Carrières Centrales, a shanty town on borrowed timeThe inhabitants of Carrières Centrales are not concerned by this demolition operation. Nearly 600 families are still waiting for the relocation decision. A dozen of them will benefit from plots of land distributed in Lahraouyine. The rest will be relocated in the "Lhalhal" region near Lahraouyine as well. According to the President of the Chihab association, several problems are hindering the relocation procedure. It is mainly about the non-census of the children of the beneficiaries who have married since the last visit of the census commission. "The authorities adopted the 2008 studies. We were also told that shacks installed after 2010 would not be taken into consideration. But people cannot stop living while waiting for the date of housing distribution, which has not yet been set," specifies Said Atik.
