Jordan Times
Sunday, November 11, 2001
Jordan Telecom donates $50,000 to PNT for water detention study in Petra
By Ruba Saqr
PETRA — Since its inception in 1989, the Petra National Trust (PNT) has been working to guarantee not only the preservation of Jordan's famous ancient Nabataean city but also the safety of tourists visiting this most popular site.In 1964, 29 visitors drowned in flash floods that washed into the main passageway into the city, the Siq. That rare but tragic incident was never forgotten.
Since then, intervention and conservation measures were taken by the Department of Antiquities to prevent any recurrence of such incidents.
On Saturday, a novel partnership was struck between the PNT — a non-governmental organisation — and Jordan Telecom (JTC) to safeguard tourists as well as the cultural heritage of Petra.
According to JTC Chairman Shabib Ammari, the company will grant the PNT $50,000 for the completion of a study/survey on preventing these dangerous flash floods from harming both visitors and monuments in the Siq Al Mudhlim, a natural gorge that opens near the mouth of the main Siq.
Engineers will be contracted to study the ancient hydraulic water retention and detention systems built by the Nabataeans and devise plans to renovate them with a view towards reviving the entire network.Those systems — of channels, ceramic pipes and other facilities — were designed more than 2,000 years ago by the inhabitants of the area to curb recurring flash floods and to supply the city with water.
“In granting this donation to the Petra National Trust is the implicit recognition by Jordan Telecom... not only of the importance of preserving our cultural heritage but the endorsement of the role of the non-governmental organisations in the preservation and protection of our sites in partnership with governmental bodies,” said HRH Raad Ben Zeid, president of the PNT board.
The Ministry of Tourism, the Department of Antiquities, the Petra Regional Authority and the Petra Region Planning Council are among those responsible for overseeing and conducting various activities, plans and policies in Petra.
For years, PNT, being the only NGO under whose mandate fall the protection and preservation of Petra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has been working with the four aforementioned organisations as well as international donors to “preserve the archaeological integrity of Petra.”
To make it possible for tourists to enjoy safe adventures all year-round in this city carved into sandstone, the PNT will at a later stage prepare recommendations based on the JTC-funded survey as to how to renovate the Siq Al Mudhlim — while adhering to international standards in restoration.
This will require the PNT to raise more funds to bring the restoration project into the implementation stage, according to Aysar Akrawi, the PNT's executive director.
The project is a continuation of previous excavations that took place in the main Siq. The original width of the Siq was restored; the elevation of its slope was adapted from a steep 16 per cent to a milder 5 per cent of its original level, acording to the PNT.
With funds from the Swiss government in 1996, rubble that washed into the Siq over centuries was cleared away, revealing along the passage's walls ancient carved monuments that were buried under around three metres of “fill.”
“It is a new Siq,” said Akrawi. “It is a new experience [as] the Siq is no longer just a passage, it is part of the city.”
Used by the Nabataeans as their formal entryway to the Treasury, which served as a royal tomb, the main Siq is 1,216 metres long and varies in width from 2 to 17 metres.
The Petra National Trust-Jordan Telecom partnership launch ceremony was addressed by Prince Raad, Jordan Telecom Chairman Shabib Ammari, CEO Pierre Mattei, Minister of Tourism Taleb Rifai, Director General of the Department of Antiquities Fawwaz Khraysheh, and Director General of the Petra Region Authority Shehadeh Abu Hdeib.