- Title: Hopes for revival pinned on Afghan palace restoration
- Date: 7th October 2016
- Summary: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (RECENT) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF THE DESTROYED DARUL AMAN PALACE DAMAGE TO THE PALACE CAUSED BY CIVIL WAR VARIOUS PARTS OF THE DAMAGED PALACE URBAN DEVELOPMENT MINISTER SADAT MANSOOR NADERI AND HIS TEAM WALKING UPSTAIRS VARIOUS OF NADERI INSPECTING RESTORATION WORKS (SOUNDBITE) (English) URBAN DEVELOPMENT MINISTER, SADAT MANSOOR NADERI, SAYING: "This will attract tourism, this will generate revenue for Afghanistan not just this building but all of our other historical sites, so we are very keen and not to just look after, appreciate the rich history that we have in our country, but also to restore this palace and this palace will turn into a museum." NADERI TALKING TO FEMALE ENGINEERS FEMALE ENGINEERS STANDING NADERI TALKING TO FEMALE ENGINEERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) URBAN DEVELOPMENT MINISTER, SADAT MANSOOR NADERI, SAYING: "We are very proud twenty percent of the engineers, technical engineers that you see here, are female and there is no limitation on that, any female qualified technical expert that we see in the area of urban planning, urban design, the door is open, you know we will hire them." INSIDE OF PALACE GRAFFITI ON WALL INSIDE OF PALACE WORKER WORKING VARIOUS OF WORKERS WORKING INSIDE PALACE FEMALE ENGINEERS AND WORKER WALKING UP STAIRS FEMALE ENGINEERS MEASURING DAMAGE AND TAKING NOTES (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) AFGHAN FEMALE ENGINEER, 26-YEAR-OLD SONIA ALIZADA, SAYING: "We are a team of girls working here with joy and everyone has a huge interest in working here, and we hope for peace, stability and development in our country." MORE OF FEMALE ENGINEERS MEASURING DAMAGE VARIOUS OF FEMALE ENGINEERS LOOKING AT BLUEPRINT OF PALACE (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) AFGHAN FEMALE ENGINEER, 24-YEAR-OLD NAJMIA HAIDARI, SAYING: "I have a message for those families who don't let their girls and women work outside home or get education. I call on them to allow their girls to have education, work and take part in the reconstruction of their country, as our country is developing day by day." ENGINEERS AT WORK DAMAGES TO PALACE WORKERS AT SITE EXTERIOR OF THE DAMAGED DARUL AMAN PALACE
- Embargoed: 22nd October 2016 07:12
- Keywords: Afghanistan Darul Aman palace restoration
- Location: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
- City: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
- Country: Afghanistan
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA0015308XMT
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: After years of abandonment, the ruined Darul Aman palace in Kabul, one of the most recognisable symbols of Afghanistan's decades of war, is to be restored in a project authorities hope will come to symbolise revival instead of destruction.
The aim is an ambitious one, with Afghan forces fighting the Taliban insurgency across the country, Kabul regularly hit by suicide attacks and the broken economy seemingly in no better shape than the bombed-out palace itself.
The project was launched by President Ashraf Ghani in May and Urban Development Minister Sadat Mansoor Naderi said the government hoped the site, next to a new, Indian-financed parliament, can become the centre of a new government quarter as well as a tourist attraction.
"This will attract tourism, this will generate revenue for Afghanistan not just this building but all of our other historical sites, so we are very keen and not to just look after, appreciate the rich history that we have in our country, but also to restore this palace and this palace will turn into a museum," said Naderi.
For the moment, such goals remain a long way off and the most visible sign of renewal is a crew working on preparing the site for the full reconstruction to come later.
Naderi said they have built a team of over 100 young graduates, with one fifth of them female engineers.
"We are very proud twenty percent of the engineers, technical engineers that you see here, are female and there is no limitation on that, any female qualified technical expert that we see in the area of urban planning, urban design, the door is open, you know we will hire them," he said.
In a country where opportunities for women to develop careers are severely limited, the restoration effort, which will depend heavily on support from foreign donors, is a showcase for young graduates.
"We are a team of girls working here with joy and everyone has a huge interest in working here, and we hope for peace, stability and development in our country," said Sonia Alizada, 26, one of the young engineers working on the palace.
"I have a message for those families who don't let their girls and women work outside home or get education. I call on them to allow their girls to have education, work and take part in reconstruction of their country, as our country is developing day by day," said Najmia Haidari, 24, another female engineer.
Reduced to a shattered skeleton following repeated bombardments over the years, the imposing European-style palace was built in the 1920s by former King Amanullah Khan on a low hilltop just outside the capital.
The edifice was destroyed in the civil wars of the 1990s, when fighting between rival militias killed thousands in Kabul. In the years after the fall of the Taliban, the bullet-scarred wreckage was left empty as a flood of foreign cash fuelled a boom in the city around it.
Its abandoned corridors, rooftops open to the sky and the faded graffiti left by passing militia fighters have a ghostly feel as dusty sunlight streams in through cracks in the walls.
Naderi said requests for proposals would soon be issued, inviting foreign companies to bid for work on the project, which could cost up to $20 million, and officials had already sought advice abroad.
The celebrated restoration of the Reichstag in the German capital Berlin, which like the Darul Aman palace was destroyed in war and abandoned for decades and which incorporates many reminders of the destruction, was one model he had looked at.
How long the project may take is not clear. Until engineers complete surveys, they will not know the full extent of the damage and how much work will be needed to repair it. Financing must also be worked out and Afghanistan's unpredictable politics may still create obstacles. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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