The Crumbling of the Casbah

[Al-khiyal]

Le plan permanent pour la protection de la Casbah d’Alger achevé

Dimanche 21 Novembre 2010 -- L’élaboration du plan permanent de sauvegarde de la Casbah d’Alger vient d’être achevée. «Ce plan, qui est un instrument juridique, a été lancé en 2007. Il a été préparé par une équipe de 25 experts de différentes spécialités. Nous avons étudié la Casbah de fond en comble. Nous connaissons le mal de ce patrimoine. Nous sommes intervenus pour sauver des maisons qui risquent de tomber alors qu’elles sont encore occupées», a déclaré Abdelwahab Zekkar, directeur général de l’Office national de gestion et d’exploitation de biens culturels protégés, invité ce dimanche 21 novembre de la chaîne III de la radio nationale. Il a indiqué que le nombre des habitants de la Casbah dépasse actuellement les 50.000. «Et pour protéger les biens et les personnes, nous sommes obligés d’utiliser tous les moyens. Le plan détaille les opérations à mener pour gérer les canalisations d’eau, combler les parcelles vides, lutter contre les constructions illicites et interdire l’utilisation du béton et de l’aluminium. Les parcelles doivent être construites pour renforcer les habitations et éviter l’effondrement en château de cartes. Cela est nécessaire car la Casbah est bâtie sur une pente», a-t-il dit. Il a reconnu que la Casbah d’Alger est dans un état de délabrement total. «Depuis trente ans que nous parlons de la Casbah, classée patrimoine mondial, nous ne savons pas à ce jour comment faire pour gérer et exploiter ce bien culturel», a-t-il dit. «Nous allons revenir à la chaux, aux couleurs de l’époque, aux décorations avec mosaïques. Et là, nous avons besoin de tout le monde, de tous les métiers ainsi que de la formation professionnelle», a-t-il ajouté.

L’Agence nationale des secteurs sauvegardés qui a été créée cette semaine aura la charge d’exécuter le plan de protection de la Casbah ainsi que le patrimoine d’une dizaine d’autres villes du pays (Dellys, Ghardaïa, Tlemcen, Annaba, Constantine, Béjaïa, Cherchell, Tazoult, Tipasa,). «L’Agence est un organe d’exécution de puissance publique qui gère les secteurs sauvegardés. Elle sera le seul interlocuteur en matière de sauvegarde et de contrôle. Elle aura à élaborer un plan permanent de sauvegarde dont la gestion sera assurée par les experts», a-t-il précisé. Selon Abdelwahab Zekkar, les villes représentatives du patrimoine algérien n’ont pas disparu. «Elles sont là mais elles agonisent. Dernièrement à la Casbah d’Alger, nous sommes intervenus sur 394 maisons que nous avons renforcées dans l’attente de la restauration. Nous avons montré que c’était possible», a-t-il souligné. Il a annoncé que des mesures d’urgence ont été lancées pour restaurer la mosquée antique de Ketchaoua à Alger et sauver les minarets de l’effondrement. Selon lui, un avis d’appel d’offres international a été publié pour choisir les entreprises qui vont exécuter le projet de sauvegarde de cette mosquée.

[Al-khiyal]

Algiers Casbah restoration plan unveiled

March 2, 2011 -- The Algiers Casbah 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 Casbah 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 Casbah 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 Casbah once they are trained in various crafts. Once a centre for Algerian craftsmanship, the Casbah 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 Casbah, 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 Casbah," 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 Casbah". He also mentioned that the Casbah 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 Casbah Day (February 23rd). The Casbah 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 Casbah 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 Casbah (Friends of Algiers – Let's save the Casbah), has advocated for the creation of a committee bringing together all concerned parties so that the plan can be monitored and implemented effectively.

[Al-khiyal]

Activists fight to save crumbling Algiers Casbah

Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Algiers' historic Casbah, or old quarter, bears the hallmarks and the scars of the country's turbulent past. During the bloody "black decade" of Algeria's 1990s civil war, the Casbah was the feared bastion of Islamist terrorists. Now that ordinary residents and a few visitors have returned, and a new battle is underway to save what one historian calls the "heart" of Algeria. Sounds of construction fill the air as Abdelkarim Bouchouada, secretary-general of the Casbah Foundation, a local preservation group, takes me on a tour of Algiers' historic Casbah. The oldest quarter of Algeria's capital is a maize of narrow streets lined with whitewashed houses, graceful fountains and the occasional, stunning Ottoman palace. As one walks past a renovated and magnificent 15th-century palace, Bouchouada tells the story of a princess who once lived there. She was known as "Khedaoudj the blind." "Because she was so beautiful, the legend says, that she put mirrors everywhere in the house. And everywhere she went, she was fixing her hair and appreciating how beautiful [she was]. And one day... looking at herself in the mirror... she went blind," explains Bouchouada.

The Casbah is full of these kinds of stories - true and false. It once was the stronghold of North African corsairs, better known as Barbary pirates, who roamed the Mediterranean several hundred years ago. It was also home to Algeria's resistance fighters and the epicenter of the decisive battle of Algiers, leading to the country's 1962 independence from France. Now it is the target of a new campaign to restore its crumbling buildings before it is too late. Historian Belkacem Babaci says more than just architecture is at stake. Babaci says the Casbah is the heart of Algeria, because it embodies the architectural memory of this North African country. Babaci, 72, is president of the Casbah Foundation. He was born in the Casbah, and says area is in his blood.

The task of rescuing the Casbah is immense. Foundations are literally melting away because of water and other erosion. It means moving out chunks of the quarter's more than 30,000 residents, and restoring old buildings street by street. In 1992, the U.N. cultural organization UNESCO added the Algiers Casbah to its list of World Heritage Sites. But the move came as Algeria plunged into a bloody civil war, pitting the country's military-backed government against Islamist radicals. Local residents fled as the Casbah became a no-man's land, occupied by the Islamists. Babaci says that in 1999, his preservation group was among the first to enter the Casbah after the fighting died down. They ventured in with police protection to prepare a plan to save the area.

Today, life has returned to the Casbah. People are on the streets. Some old residents have returned, although the population is changing. After years of campaigning by the Casbah Foundation, Algeria's Ministry of Culture is now in charge of restoration efforts, which Babaci estimates will take at least a decade. Babaci says old festivals and old crafts are returning to the Casbah. So are some tourists - although they walk around with escort, since there is still petty crime. Even as his foundation seeks to preserve the Casbah's brighter history, Babaci says, it's time to bury its more recent and grimmer past.

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Lisa Bryant reports from the Casbah

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Voyage à Alger : Reportage de la chaine RTBF