The inhabitants of the Mellah neighbourhood who have not yet benefited from the relocation programme still live in an atmosphere of social instability and anxiety because of their houses threatening to collapse. Just last week, the roof of a house in alley 24 collapsed in the absence, fortunately, of its two inhabitants who were at work and who found themselves homeless with other families who have been observing an open sit-in in the heart of the Mellah neighbourhood for almost a year now.

At the sit-in, there are widows, divorcees, orphans, entire families who have become homeless after the collapse of their houses, while others had preferred to leave their rooms to avoid the worst. The images are nothing if not shocking and sad; the problem therefore takes on a social, economic, security and political character. Here, misery, the clandestine sale of alcohol and drugs in the heart of the ruins of collapsed houses rub shoulders, while the bargaining of electoral votes is in full swing in these times of crisis.

The citizens clinging to their right to housing are determined to continue their sit-in while waiting for the resolution of the file that has lasted too long. They look with sadness at the images of death lurking in the damp alleys of the Mellah neighbourhood, which has experienced several tragic incidents for several years. Recently, a delegation of local authorities went to the neighbourhood and padlocked a house threatening to collapse, while waiting to provide a solution to the problem of families who are preparing to spend a rainy and cold winter.