Almotamar.net - Advisor to the Yemeni Prime Minister Jamal Abdulrahman al-Hadrami said Tuesday that renovations and preparations have been made for six public buildings, the four gates, the guest house, part of the fort, and 45 houses as part of the measures taken for the preservation of the city of Zabid in cooperation with residents of the city and the German Programme in support of historical cities.

In a lecture organized by the Arab Syrian Cultural Centre under the motto of ‘The City of Zabid, its history and the story of preserving it’ with the UNESCO, al-Hadrami called for the necessity of enlightenment on the importance the city’s heritage and preserving it.

He has also criticized the Ministry of Endowment for not carrying out renovation and repair of the city’s mosque and its shops in the old market.

Al-Hadrami also affirmed the necessity of the availability of the political will to render Zabid as a tourist historical city of a high civilization vale and entertain attention of the state and international organisations. He called for the necessity of restoring the prestige to the city of Zabid and to take care of it economically and politically by holding conferences and economic and trade activities in the way that improves income of the individual in it.

Al-Hadrami pointed out that the government has set up a committee for the rescue of Zabid from deletion and collapse after threats of the UNESCO of dropping the city from the list of heritage.

He stressed the necessity that the committee set up under chairmanship of the Minister of Culture shoulder the responsibility for the rapid treatment in order to deliver the city from the condition it is currently in after the allocation of one hundred millions for the quick saving of the city.

On deleting the city of Zabid from the list of world heritage, the Premier advisor said the city of Zabid was part of the world heritage list in 1993 and lowered in 2001 to a lower position and it is part of the list of the world heritage exposed to danger unless measures for preserving it are taken for preserving of its historical value.

Concerning the city’s important historical landmarks al-Hadrami clarified that the old city includes 4200 historical houses of 200-600 years old in addition to 85 Islamic mosques and schools, among them are four mosques aged at 1400 years, such as Al-Ashari mosque. He said the UNESCO has given the city the status it deserves as it registered 400 of its houses in the lists of unique landmarks of world heritage considering them as of high architectural value the age of some reaches to more than 400 years.

On the scientific and cultural phenomena of the city of Zabid al-Hadrami punted out they are the wall and the four gates and the Nasseri Grand House (Zabid fortress) which is considered of the most important landmarks in the city, in addition to Al-Ashari University and its scientists and the archaeological studies.

He has also reviewed in his lecture the political events that Zabid experienced and he divided them into five stages, beginning from the state of Bani Ziad and ending with after the Yemeni revolution.