By Hadi Fornaji.
Tunis, 24 March 2017:
The interim government in Beida is looking at how to deal with the growing threat to Libya’s archaeological heritage. The issue was under the spotlight yesterday in talks between prime minister Abdullah Al-Thinni and some of the country’s antiquities and cultural chiefs.
There have been repeated and growing warnings of late from local and international academics and archaeologists that the country’s archaeological sites are at risk from urban encroachment as well as from thieves and vandals.
A conference on Libyan heritage in Tunis a fortnight ago was told by a number of Libyan and foreign archaeologists and specialists, including the head of the French Archaeological Mission to Libya, that the country’s archaeological treasures were in danger of being lost forever. A UNESCO conference in Paris at the same time was told much the same news.
Since the 2011 revolution a lack of effective government meant that uncontrolled construction and urbanisation have mushroomed around historic sites, notably Cyrene, the Tunis conference was told. In some cases, archaeological remains were actually being bulldozed. In others, it had been a case of theft or sheer vandalism.
In yesterday’s discussions – attended by media, culture and civil society authority Khalid Najem, Ahmed Abdul-Jalil from the Antiquities Authority and local Beida antiquities head Abdullah Al-Mabrouk –it was agreed that raising public awareness of the country’s rich legacy was the best way to deal with the problem, and that this should be done by using the media.
Additionally, it was decided that the work of the competent authorities to protect the sites should be expanded and developed.
It was also agreed that there should be greater interaction between the tourism and antiquities authorities as well as the creation of body to look after the ruins in Beida of Balagrae, one of the cities of the Pentapolis. These have been left to nature to reclaim them after excavations in 2001/2.
