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By Ahmed Elumami.
Tripoli, 18 February 2014:
Benghazi’s iconic lighthouse has a new face in celebration of the third anniversary of the revolution.
Businessman Abubakr Sheikh has presented his native city with a five-metre-diametre clock which has been inserted into the sea-facing side of the lighthouse.
“I was touring round in my beloved city Benghazi but unfortunately I couldn’t find a clock anywhere to tell people the time,” Sheikh told the Libya Herald.
His solution was to offer one to the city – not a difficult challenge for him given that that the family has been involved in selling watches and clocks in Libya since 1948. He started his own business, The Sheikh Stores for Watches and Clocks, in 1968. It has five outlets in Benghazi and four in Tripoli, where he now lives.
The clock, in the red, black and green of the independence flag, was manufactured in Germany by Rochas the French fashion company which also makes watches and clocks. Illuminated at night, it is the biggest clock in Libya ever, Sheikh says, and is linked to the internet to ensure accurate timing. If for any reason the power supply is cut and the clock stops it will automatically re-set to the right time when the power comes back on.
Everyone in Benghazi can now set their watches and clocks from the Lighthouse clock, he said with evident pride.
Sheikh has presented seven clocks to banks around the country and one to Tripoli International Airport. He is also giving a clock to Libyan Airlines which will be installed in the next few weeks at its Shara Omar Mukhtar offices in Tripoli. [/restrict]
