More re Qurna evictions

Egypt Daily Star News

While the evacuation decision is irreversible, Gourna villagers struggle to adapt to the changes.
“I really don’t know what’s going on,” said Abdel El Hamid Haridi, a clerk who still lives in the area. “We were informed of a major plan for this area, but we don’t know exactly what they have in mind,” he added.
“Life is becoming almost impossible for me and other families in Gourna… many of our townsfolk left for the new area located four or five kilometers away.
“We have lived as one community and we’re waiting impatiently to be reunited. We visit each other regularly. Each has to wait for his turn to receive his new house in El Taref.”
However, the long-awaited relocation turned out to be a big disappointment for some who, for the past seven decades, have been dreaming of the promised better living conditions.
“Certainly moving to El Taref was a blessing for those who have been deprived of a sanitary system, water and electricity and other services for a long time,” said Mahjub Jaber, another Gourna resident.
“But arriving in the new area, some were shocked to find walls collapsing and pipes bursting. The third phase of the housing project was completed so clumsily that some had to be evacuated [again] so that repairs could be carried out.”
Of all neighborhoods on Luxor’s west bank, El Gourna is the most coveted due to the lucrative trade of pottery and the rumored clandestine trafficking of antiquities recovered from the tombs beneath the houses.