The National Agency for Safeguarded Sectors strives to protect cultural heritage and ensure the implementation of the permanent plan for the preservation and rehabilitation of sectors in 27 safeguarded sectors that were created at the national level with the aim of preserving, protecting and valuing the historical, urban, architectural and aesthetic value of these historical monuments.
The safeguarded sector includes “all the categories of urban and rural real estate, such as kasbahs, cities, villages, palaces and traditional residential compounds of historical, architectural or artistic value, which are inhabited thus requiring protection and rehabilitation,” according to the Director of the National Agency for Safeguarded Sectors, Karima Sadeki.
Mrs. Sadeki indicated that the executive decrees for establishing and setting the borders of 25 safeguarded sectors were issued in the Official Gazette, the last of which was issued last February, they relate to three palaces in the province of Djanet (Almizan, Zelwaz and Aghahil), while the two executive decrees regarding the old city of Miliana (Ain Defla) and the castle of Beni Rached (Relizane) which were classified as safeguarded sectors at the end of December 2020 are expected to be issued.
She also mentioned that since 2012 permanent plans have been adopted to preserve and rehabilitate the safeguarded sectors of the Kasbah of Algiers, the old city of Constantine, the Kasbah of Dellys (Boumerdes) and the old city of Nedroma (Tlemcen). The executive decrees of the permanent plan for the preservation and rehabilitation of the safeguarded sector in each of the safeguarded sectors located in the old cities of Mila and Laghouat are expected to be issued in the official gazette.
The agency director explained that the executive decrees of the permanent plan for the preservation and rehabilitation of the safeguarded sector in each of the safeguarded sectors located in the old cities of Mila, Tenes and Laghouat are expected to be issued, as the plan is considered as an urban document that replaces the land occupation plan, thus all the internal and external renewal and preparation works that affect the property located within the safeguarded sector must be approved by the National Agency for Safeguarded Sectors.
Regarding the agency’s tasks in implementing the permanent plan for preserving and valuing the safeguarded sector of the Casbah of Algiers, the director explained that the agency “provides technical support to the provincial departments that have been entrusted with handling the Casbah file,” highlighting that violations related to unlicensed and non-conforming works carried out by citizens at the level of old buildings and houses are recorded. The agency’s intervention is limited to “informing the concerned local authorities” (the wilaya of Algiers and the municipality of the Kasbah), she added.
Mrs. Sadeki recalled the various awareness campaigns that aim to educate the population about the importance of preserving and protecting the safeguarded sector of the Casbah and the protection and preservation of its classified historical monuments, as well as the technique of maintaining old buildings, in addition to the workshops destined to children to sensitize them about the importance of preserving the historical heritage of the Casbah as it reflects the cultural and urban identity of Algeria.
The agency director announced, as part of her mission related to the rest of the safeguarded sectors, a project to open annexes of the National Agency for Safeguarded Sectors at the level of each of the old city of Constantine, the old city of Dellys, the old city of Mila and Tenes, considering that each safeguarded sector requires the establishment of an annex at its level to monitor and plan for interventions.
