ABSTRACT
In 1998, Chérif Rahmani, the Governor of the Greater Algiers District, highlighted his support for the associative sector by creating a Maison des Associations in the Algiers district of Bologhine. Initially intended as a pilot scheme to be replicated in other parts of the capital and possibly in other wilayas, the main aim of the Maison des Association de Bologhine (MAB) was to address what was widely acknowledged to be the biggest obstacle to setting up an association – the lack of affordable office space. Against payment of a moderate fee, the MAB provided registered associations with an official address, the possibility of holding meetings and conferences, as well as a variety of services like individual mail boxes, telephones, fax and internet access. During the spring of 2000 though, the Greater Algiers District was returned to its former administrative status of wilaya95 and by October 2001 rumours of ongoing talks about using the MAB building to relocate the wilaya’s Department of Arts and Culture emerged. The MAB staff had been expecting such a move for a long time:
They finally realised that there’s not much to do here. The MAB hosts 150 associations, but no more than 30, or maximum 40 ever showed up. I have worked here for a whole year and I have seen 10 or 15 of them, the others are total strangers. What I know is that most dossiers are left incomplete; most of them haven’t even paid last years’ fees and do not even bother replying when we contact them. They don’t do anything. You want to know what I think? The majority of these associations are just bogus.96
