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| Japan and a 1,300,000 Dollar Donation to Bam Citadel | ||||||||||
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Japan is about to donate 1,300,000 U.S. dollars to Bam Citadel for procuring equipments necessary to restore this ancient site. | |||||||||
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Tehran, 26 December 2005 (CHN) -- Japan is to extend a cultural grant of 1,300,000 U.S. dollars to Iran for the reconstruction of the ancient citadel of Bam in southern Iran which was almost reduced to rubble on 26th of December 2003 due to a massive earthquake that struke the region. Prior to this, the Japanese government allocated 112 million Japanese Yen (an equivalent of 1.09 million USD) to this project. In addition, it has already drawn some plans for reconstruction of the Bam Citadel. The grant is the continuation of donations and contributions made by the Japanese governmental and non governmental organizations as well as the Japanese individuals after the recent earthquake which killed tens of thousands of people and razed the city of Bam in Kerman province to the ground. Bam Citadel, the largest clay palace of the world with a history that goes back to 2000 years ago, was reduced to rubble on 26th of December 2003 due to a massive earthquake that struck the region. As soon as the news of this dreadful event spread across the world, millions of people and a large number of domestic and foreign aid teams rushed to help the survivors. Unfortunately, more than 80 percent of the Bam Citadel was destroyed by the earthquake and over 50,000 people lost their lives while more that 100,000 were injured and many became homeless. The earthquake of Bam is believed to have been the most destructive and powerful earthquake in the history of the country. Soon after the earthquake of December 2003, an ad-hoc committee was established by the Cultural Heritage Organization of Iran to renovate and reconstruct the Citadel of Bam. “After the earthquake, Bam Citadel has received a lot of international aids from different courtiers and organizations, such as UNESCO, ICOMOS, an institute in French, and Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage. Japan is one of those countries which have close cooperation with Iran in the Bam Salvation Project. It recently announced its readiness to provide some mechanical equipments which costs 1.3 million USD and will be delivered to Iran by the coming March,” said Eskandar Mokhtari, head of the Bam Salvation Project. “So far, human resources and technical departments have contributed to this project while the Bam salvation team is making itself ready for a 15-year salvation program. At present, 150 people are working on this project, 12 of which are restoration specialists and 30 are experts active in different areas,” explained Mokhtari. To reconstruct the Bam Citadel, some equipments such as scaffoldings have already been provided. A lodging center has been built in the Citadel for the experts which accommodates 20 permanent and 10 temporary experts. Establishing a project office and changing the dining hall to an exhibition hall are the other measures which have been carried out so far. Thus far, the debris leftovers from the surrounding walls of the Bam Citadel, the bazaar, the main gate, the second gate (rural settlement), the barrack, the stable, and the Sistanid house have been removed completely. Different workshops have been constructed in different parts of the Citadel to preserve the remaining structures. A 3D plan of the Bam Citadel is being provided to increase the accuracy of the renovation and salvation activities of the citadel. The reports of the previous restorations have also been gathered. “The most equipped adobe laboratory has been established in Iran. An adobe workshop has also been established near the Bam Citadel. This workshop produces 1000-1500 clays every day necessary to rebuild the citadel,” added Mokhtari. According to Mokhtari, one of the main problems for organizing the surroundings of the Bam Citadel is the lands which do not have a legal certificate. However, some measures have been taken in this regard to buy the surrounding lands which fall in the vicinity of the citadel. In the meantime, the Third Architectural and City Planning Congress will be held this year in order to introduce the architectural styles of Iran. Mokhtari believes that the previous two ones played an effective role in introducing the Bam Citadel to the world. The inscription of the Bam Citadel on the World Heritage List at the 28th session of the UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee in China was a giant step toward renovating this historical site. “The Day Bam Citadel Collapsed” |
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