By Ashraf Abdul Wahab.
Tripoli, 24 August 2013:
The Bab Al-Aziziya Compound is due to be turned into an shady public park. However, . . .[restrict]before that transformation can begin, the six square kilometre site is being swept carefully by army engineers, searching for unexploded bombs or still hidden stores of deadly ordinance.
The soldiers began work yesterday on a comprehensive security survey of Qaddafi’s former sanctuary, a task which could take several weeks.
Minister of Housing Ali Hussein Al-Sharif told the Libya Herald the work was essential before he sent in bulldozers to clear away the rubble. A recent clear up by volunteers of unsightly debris from the smashed perimeter walls, has complicated the challenge facing the military engineers, since the rubble was not taken away, but merely dumped inside the compound.
Once the housing ministry has been given the all-clear on explosives, it will remove the wreckage and hand the site over to the Tourism Ministry, who will create the new public park and attractions. It is not clear who will be responsible for dealing with the hundreds of families who are now squatting in buildings around the compound.
[/restrict]
