Friday market" is being forced to relocate -- again. Yasmine El-Rashidi reports On the outskirts of Cairo, at a point where urban sprawl meets desert sand, one of the country's most famous markets is teeming with people. It is early Friday morning, and the market that takes that day of the week as its official name, is open for business. But for how much longer? Two weeks ago, Cairo Governor Abdel-Rehim Shehata announced his latest plan to "clean up" local marketplaces, of which the "Friday market" has always been one of the most prominent -- and controversial. The governor's LE5 million plan involves relocating the market to "four improved locations". These spots are on the Cairo-Alexandria Desert Road, in the 15 May Satellite City, near Cairo airport, and in the district of Al-Tibeen. For decades locals and tourists alike have flocked to the Friday market -- currently lodged between a fly-over and the sandstone hills across from the citadel near the City of the Dead -- to rummage amidst the nondescript mass of "stuff" being sold. Although bargains can often be found amidst the junkyard-style piles, the market has cultivated a reputation over the years as Souq Al-Harameya, or the thieves' market. That reputation, if anything, has plagued the market -- lending it a renegade feel that makes it an easy target for urban relocation schemes. Every few years, the hundreds of merchants are told they must pack up and go. A few years ago they were moved away from Al-Khalifa, which sprawls around the citadel up to Al-Muqattam. As a result, hundreds of displaced vendors found themselves loitering the sidewalks; many eventually settled in their current spot in Al-Tunsi near south Cairo's Sayeda Aisha district. Shehata said the relocation was also meant to "legalise the trade. Right now, anyone can just go and set up shop. In a cleaner, more controlled environment, dealings in stolen goods would be minimised. We want to upgrade the markets and upgrade the working conditions of the traders." The announcement has been met with anger from most of the market's traders. Mahfouz El-Hadari, for one, was weary. "Enough is enough! I've been selling at the market for 30 years now. They just won't leave us alone. Every so often you hear that you are going to be moved. One tries to earn a decent living and they won't let you." El-Hadari said the government barely tolerates the market. "They try to get rid of us because to them what we do is nothing." The Friday market is actually a conglomeration of several different markets selling second-hand goods, pets, poultry and a myriad of other things. El-Hadari sells what might otherwise be seen as junk. Amongst his wares are stamps, an "antique" typewriter, and the kinds of magazines, papers and trinkets that are collected when houses are cleaned out. Over the years he has come into the possession of a photo of Egypt's last king, Farouk, a magazine of the imperial wedding, and a newspaper from 1900. The kind of business El-Hadari runs is not the market's problem, however. Stolen electronic gadgets are at the crux of the market's unfortunate reputation. "Mobile phones, computers, car cassette players, things like that," said El-Hadari. "But moving won't really solve the problem." In fact, in many of the market's stall- lined alleyways, the electronics trade is truly booming. Mobile phones, computer parts, monitors, cassette players, and a battered Discman are all available. "LE75 for the Discman," yells out one merchant. "LE200 for a Nokia mobile phone. LE150 for the Ericsson." A PC goes for LE650 -- hard drive, keyboard and all. The market -- which starts early and packs up late -- has long been fodder for debate. When the vendors arrived in the district four years ago, Hamdi El-Molla, the then recently-appointed head of the neighbouring district, Al-Khalifa, took a hard-line stance. "No one in this market has a legitimate right to be there," he told Al-Ahram Weekly. "Their presence is a clear infringement on the rights of the district's inhabitants." El-Molla's main concern was that the market had not been properly researched. Just a year earlier, the governorate had tried and failed to attract a private contractor to run it, but the rent money being asked was deemed too high. Today, vendors expressed their willingness to pay a monthly fee. "If it means securing our place, we are all willing to pay," said furniture seller Mohamed Abbad. "It seems to be a basic right -- the right to earn an honest living. The people that are stealing will always steal, no matter where you move them. That's not the way to get rid of them." In fact, the relocation is seen as more of a punishment for those who have been doing legitimate business in the market for years. According to Abbad, "if we are moved out to the middle of nowhere, those selling smaller electronic items [which make up the bulk of the market's stolen merchandise] will not come out there. It's people like me, who sell old things, who are forced to move, because buyers want to come and browse, and they want choices. You can sell a mobile phone anywhere. For those of us trying to make a living, we're just asking for a decision. This isn't just about us. We have to think about our commute home, and the truckloads we have to transport to the market," he said. "It shouldn't be this easy to just keep telling us we have to pack up and move." The governor has announced that the decision is part of a long-term plan to not only clean up the market, but also provide vendors with an enhanced sales environment -- both in terms of infrastructure, services, and sanity. The exact details of the relocation have not yet been finalised.
