Al-Masry Al-Youm has received several complaints from residents of the Saqr Qoraish area of Maadi regarding what they describe as the "encroachment of industrial and vocational workshops on the residential area."
The letters from residents have demanded the transfer of the workshops away from their houses.
Dalia Mohamed Rabie, a Saqr Qoraish resident, sent photos of the mechanic workshops under below apartment.
"We are suffering from the blatant encroachment of mechanics on the area, backed by the neighborhood's local authorities," she wrote in her message.
Rabie said that mechanics rent garages under the buildings in the area where they are supposed to operate. However, they often allow their work to spill out onto the surrounding streets, parking the vehicles that they are mending. Residents suffer from noise and exhaust fumes until late each day, while there is little room for residents to park their cars.
"Nobody dares to complain because the mechanics explicitly threatened residents and are backed by the neighborhood's [local authorities]," she wrote.
The previous Cabinet promised to transfer the workshops and allocated a sum of money for this purpose, but due to corruption, the decision was not applied, she added.
Rabie mentioned that 10 workshops are located in the vicinity of her building alone.
The admininstrator of a Facebook page named "Save Saqr Qoraish in New Maadi from Mechanics" sent a message to Al-Masry Al-Youm complaining about the residents' suffering.
The message complained of environmental and audiovisual pollution, as well as the obscene words residents hear throughout the day due to quarrels between mechanics. He also said that the garages used by mechanics are supposedly allocated for residents to park their cars.
He described the situation as a "ticking disaster" and workshops as "cancer".
He said local authorities have directly rejected the residents' request to transfer the workshops outside the residential area. He also complained of officials' neglect of their duties in the area over the past decade.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
