Scores of market traders from el-Tunsi market (Souq el-Gomaa–the Friday market) protested in front of the Journalists Syndicate against a decision to relocate them to 15th of May City.
The market fell victim to a disastrous blaze in June when a speeding car fell from a flyover passing above the market, killing around nine people.
Mohamed Abdel Ghaffar, a market trader and one of the protesters, said the police have since cordoned off the scene of the accident, preventing customers from entering. He said this is at odds with official statements that claim the market’s sideways are still open to the public. Ghaffar said that market sellers have suffered financially since the tragedy, failing to sell any of the goods recovered from the blaze.
Hassan Muslim, another market trader, said he would rather die than move, since no customers would travel such a long distance to buy their goods. Not only that, he said, but there are no means of transportation to the proposed market in 15th May City, and the customers of the old Friday market are from low-income classes who cannot afford the doubled costs of reaching the new location.
Mohsen Abdel Radi, another trader, said he lost all his money in the fire, and government actions have frustrated all his attempts to make up for the loss.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
