Residents of the “Loulouat Smouha” tower in Alexandria, were surprised on 21 December when their drinking water supply was cut off by a group of employees from the Alexandria Water Company, accompanied by  the company’s chairman in person and a force from the Sidi Gaber Police Station. The employees and accompanying officers claimed the water cutoff was carried out in execution of a decision issued by the Prime Minister. The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) said the move constitutes an unlawful administrative pressure tactic aimed at forcibly evicting the residents to make way for the construction of a tourist hotel.

The water cutoff followed earlier similar measures, including the suspension of natural gas supply and threats to stop other services. These actions come as part of a long-standing dispute over the property between the residents and the Solik Real Estate Company, which owns an adjacent gated compound, while the Armed Forces Engineering Authority owns some of its properties. Residents told EIPR they have faced pressure for nearly three years to vacate the building in exchange for meager compensation. They were also offered relocation to alternative housing units in another building outside the compound. While some residents accepted the offer, others insist on exercising their right to remain.

The faceoff dates back to 2019, when the Prime Minister issued Decree No. 1820, designating as a public benefit project the expansion of Al-Naql wal Handasa Street (formerly Street 38) into a 30-meter-wide road connecting to the Mahmoudiyah Axis in Alexandria. The decision also authorized direct expropriation of the land required for the project.

The decision was renewed in 2022 and again in 2025, in line with amendments extending the validity of public utility decisions to three years. However, under Law No. 10 of 1990 on property expropriation for public benefit, any expropriation decision lapses and is deemed null and void if not implemented within three years. Furthermore, some residents have challenged the original expropriation decision before the Administrative Court in Alexandria (Circuit 54), with the first hearing scheduled for 22 December and EIPR co-representing the claimants. 

Documents held by the residents show the building’s units are owned under old sale contracts dating back to 1999, specifying unit numbers, floors, layouts, sale prices, and payment methods—clear evidence that the property is legally inhabited and not an informal or undocumented settlement. The documents also include recent utility payment receipts, such as a water bill from August 2025, raising direct questions about the legal and administrative basis for cutting off water supply or threatening to suspend other services in an occupied building. These violations are compounded by the absence of any consultation with the affected residents prior to issuing the decision.

Residents stated that the building’s total area is approximately 240 square meters, while the street expansion project requires only 100 square meters. However, partial demolition is not feasible as it would compromise the building’s structural integrity, effectively resulting in full expropriation. In this context, residents and Solik Real Estate’s website point to plans for constructing a tourist hotel—a claim that, if true, undermines the public benefit justification for the Prime Minister’s decision. Notably, another compound owned by Al-Ghoneimi Company lies along the same alignment, meaning that applying the same logic would require demolishing other buildings, including that compound—something not reflected in the current plan, raising suspicions of selective enforcement. Meanwhile, alternative solutions appear less socially and financially costly, supported by maps and field imaging. One such option is expropriating the triangular plot opposite the building (south of the street), which is an internal road free of residents and obstructions, and would cost far less than displacing an inhabited building and causing forced evictions and social harm.

Residents stress that urgent legal intervention is needed to halt utility cutoffs and ensure compliance with constitutional and legal guarantees regarding private property, due process in expropriation cases, and full disclosure of official planning and zoning documents to guarantee transparency and public oversight.