Egypt’s Public Prosecution has ordered the detention of the owner of the burnt building located next to the Ring Road in Kerdasa for four days, pending investigations.
On Tuesday, the Public Prosecution interrogated the owner of the property, which was built without a license and sits outside of approved urban boundaries.
The owner is also accused of failing to remove the building after being directed to do so by authorities, as well as failing to take safety precautions against fire at the property, resulting in this week’s fire.
The accused admitted during interrogations that he purchased the plot of land on which the property is located when it was still agricultural land in 2013, built upon it the property and a shoe store, violating the law.
The investigations revealed that he had not taken the necessary requirements to prevent fire hazards and chemical and physical hazards in the store, despite the fact that shoemaking requires flammable chemical and petroleum materials.
According to investigations, a short circuit caused the fire.
On Monday, Giza Governor Ahmed Rashid said that the property was built without a permit in 2013, and the governorate was in the process of demolishing it, but after the new reconciliation law went into effect, the building’s owner applied for reconciliation and has been fighting to keep the building.
Rashid said that no more than seven apartments inside the building are inhabited, leaving much of the building unoccupied.
Overall, building violations have decreased since 2018, due to stricter punishments for violations, according to Rashid.
He revealed that since the law went into effect, 178,000 violations have been counted in the Giza Governorate, and 35,000 of them removed. Giza authorities also received 205,000 reconciliation requests, amounting to LE1.5 billion, and the governorate is still receiving requests.
