By Ali Abou Dashish and Nawal Sayed
CAIRO, March. 4 (SEE) -
Minister of Antiquities and Alexandria Governorate Khaled El Anany celebrated yesterday the completion of lowering groundwater level a project of in 'Kom El-Shoqafa' archaeological site, west of Alexandria.
The project was carried out by the Antiques Ministry in cooperation with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the National Authority for Drinking Water and Drainage.
The celebration held on Saturday was witnessed by US Ambassador to Egypt Tomas Goldberger, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Mustafa Waziri, Assistant Minister of Antiquities for Engineering Affairs Brigadier General Hisham Samir, Head of Projects Sector Engineer Wad Abu El Ela and Head of the Museums Sector Hama Salah.
In his opening speech, Anany said that he was pleased to see the completion of the project of lowering the groundwater level of the 'Kom El-Shaqafa' area.
"In April, another project aiming at reducing the groundwater level in the Kom Ombo Temple area in Aswan will be completed in cooperation with the US," Anany disclosed.
He also thanked all the partners involved in this remarkable project, especially the USAID, which provided a grant of $5.7 million to complete this project. "I want to thank the team of Egyptian designers for their efforts to rebuild and renovate the two rose tombs found in Greco-Roman museum's garden since 1952."
"The 5.7-million-dollar project was implemented in tandem with the USAID", Anany said in statements on Sunday.
The project falls within the framework of the ministry's efforts to restore the archaeological sites.
The project included digging six wells at 40 meter depth.
Anany noted that a project for lowering groundwater level in the Upper Egypt governorate of Aswan will be opened on March 25.
The 9-million-dollar project was also carried out in collaboration with the USAID, he said.
Mustafa Waziri indicated that the project began in Nov., 2017, and aimed to dry and protect the archaeological area and cemeteries from the risk of erosion and damage due to groundwater leakage, by establishing a system to reduce the level of groundwater to the level of the bottom of the third round.
Abu El Ela, confirmed that six wells were drilled at a depth of 40 meters and the installation of submersible pumps with an electronic control system through a new control building that was built in the place, as well as lines to expel and disperse the water and provide the place with new umbrellas to protect the tombs and stairs leading to it.
He added that the area Kom el Shoqafa suffered from high ground water levels since its discovery and that the bottom level was completely submerged in water.
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