cS. pphément av N@ ''’ de “ Quatridéme Internationaie ©
~ Published ty International Secretariat of the Fourth International =
February 27, 1963
RS EN I A AE UE RTS ee |
ALGERTAN GOVERNMENT SLASHES RENTS
The Ben Bella government announced February 19 that it was establishing rent ceilings which will be among the lowest in the world when they go into effect March 1. Rents per room will range from 1,500 to 7,650 francs ($3 to $15.30).
The new rate was calculated at about ten to fifteen percent of income.
Still lower ceilings will be established for certain categories These include deductions of ten to twenty percent for homes distant from the center of town; and up to forty and fifty percent for the families of victims of the war and veterans.
It is calculated that rent ceilings on the average will thus be ten to twenty percent lower than under French imperialist rule. The action of the Ben Bella government follows the precedent set by the Castro regime which slashed rents by fifty percent soon after coming to power,
For many families who moved into the tens of thousands of homes and apartments abandoned by the "pieds noirs"” (Buropeans born in Algeria), the ruling means the beginning of payment of rent. he government explained that the abandoned dwellings like other "biens vacants" (vacated property) now constitute a national heritage. Rents will be used to keep up the buildings and to construct new homes, The rent will not go to private landiords,. It is payable to the tax office.
An interesting sidelight on some of the problems faced by the new government was cast by its admonishment to many poor Algerians now living in the comfortable quarters abandoned by pieds noirs that they should oust all family animals that have been brought in to share the comforts of the new home. Among the privileged animals, according to Al Chaeab, official daily of the FLN (National Liberation Front), are "goats, sheep and even cows."
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In some apartments bath tubs have been filled with soil and put to use as easily watered miniature gardens.
"All this must be criticized by the neighbors," declares Al Chaab, "and these people re-educated."