WORLD : Decaying City of Fez Will Have to Evacuate 100,000 People
Morocco said today that the ancient city of Fez, one of the finest in the Arab world, is falling into decay through overcrowding and that 100,000 residents will have to leave.
The normal population of 120,000 has swollen to more than 300,000 without any new houses being built, Moulay Ahmed Alaoui, minister of state without portfolio, told a news conference.
He said the 1,200-year-old walled city, a former Moroccan capital with many fine mosques and other buildings, urgently needs restoration.
Local authorities have set up a private company to build 25,000 apartments in satellite towns over the next five years to house 100,000 people now living within the city walls.
The new homes will be healthier and more comfortable than the present ones, he said.
“Some houses formerly occupied by one family are now occupied by 30 families, with as many as three families living in one room,” Alaoui said.
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