Historic homes in Old Sana’a crumble as government watches [Archives:2008/1142/Reportage]

Hamed Thabet
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While Yemeni government officials celebrate the fact that the Old City of Sana'a has been on UNESCO's World Heritage List for more than two decades, many historic homes in Old Sana'a are in danger of crumbling into nonexistence, according to Dr. Abdullah Zaid Ayssa, chairman of the General Organization for the Preservation of Historic Cities in Yemen, or GOPHCY.

In the eyes of the government, the decision makers and laymen, history is just an undeveloped past and such people have no time to care or think about it, states Yassin Ghalib Al-Ariqi, an architect and preservation consultant who often advises GOPHCY.

However, the Old City of Sana'a's architectural heritage won't be around much longer unless someone helps reconstruct damaged homes. For instance, at midnight on May 15, 2002, nine historical homes beside the Grand Mosque collapsed, forcing their occupants to vacate.

Al-Ariqi notes that cement often is used during periodic repairs to the homes' foundations, thereby making the existing mud, plaster and al-qutra (the material commonly used for such foundations) unstable when all of these elements are combined.

Because foundations also are made of mud, when sewer water touches the foundation, it dissolves the mud, making it pliable. Humidity also plays a big role, first causing swelling and then contraction in the mud, which weakens the foundation and causes cracks that eventually bring about the home's collapse, as architect and GOPHCY deputy chairman Khalid Al-Jubari explained.

A Korean-Yemeni project installed water pipes in Old Sana'a in 1986. Authorities and GOPHCY noticed afterward that many of the water pipes weren't tightened properly, thereby allowing water to infiltrate the homes' foundations. However, neither the responsible authorities nor the residents themselves did anything about the water problems and simply neglected the homes, Al-Ariqi said.

Immediately after these homes collapsed in 2002, a joint committee comprised of GOPHCY, members of the water sanitation sector and architectural specialists went to Old Sana'a to study and report on the damages.

The report noted that at least YR 10 to 11 million is needed for the first phase of repairing and restoring the nine collapsed homes. In the beginning, the Executive Committee to Preserve the Old City of Sana'a, the Sana'a governor and the Ministry of Culture thought to purchase the ruined homes for the Grand Mosque in order to expand it, Ayssa said.

Because of this mosque expansion plan, the homes' restoration was halted for three years until the idea of purchasing the homes was abandoned. The idea became unfeasible for two reasons: the historical importance of the buildings, which date back 600 to 700 years, and the owners' steep asking prices.

The Executive Committee to Preserve the Old City of Sana'a requested the Ministry of Culture release YR 20 million from Yemen's National Heritage Fund, which is related to the ministry and provides government financing for projects like these. However, this didn't come about because the National Heritage Fund claimed it didn't have the amount that GOPHCY wanted.

GOPHCY later directly asked Prime Minister Ali Mujawar, who in turn directed the Finance Ministry to allot the YR 20 million from the government's approbations center, which provides emergency funding. However, Al-Jubari noted, “We only received YR 5 million and were promised the other YR 15 million after the job was finished. All of this took place in July of 2007.”

In order to commence the buildings' restoration, the residents were asked to leave their homes and rent other accommodations. Sana'a governorate offered to pay their rent for the first six months. After that, if the restoration work was still ongoing, the Ministry of Culture would take over the financial responsibility for the renters, Ayssa noted.

“Between 140 and 150 people left their homes, and now, after the first six months, the Ministry of Culture hasn't paid them, as per the agreement,” Al-Jubari said, “For this reason, many who are poor have returned to their homes while others are paying the rent from their own pockets.”

Al-Jubari added that the residents who continue to rent are afraid to return to their homes because of the danger of collapse during the rainy season, which will begin soon.

The repair work was supposed to take six to eight months and when the first YR 5 million was spent, GOPHCY asked the Finance Ministry to turn over the remaining YR 15 million. Instead, the ministry cut YR 5 million from the 2008 restoration budget and currently is holding on to the other YR 15 million.

“We've sent a letter to the Sana'a governor, the prime minister and the Executive Committee for the Preservation of the Old City of Sana'a to determine a solution because the work has stopped,” Ayssa said.

The restoration project went for only three months, during which GOPHCY used the funds it received to erect pillars inside the homes to prevent their further collapse and repaired the facade of only one house.

Ayssa says he has contacted the Executive Committee to Preserve the Old City of Sana'a, the governor of Sana'a and the Ministry of Culture to let them know that his organization won't take responsibility for further damages or destruction that might occur due to the approaching rainy season.

“I've worked since this project began. Halfway through, we were short of money, so the work was stopped,” construction manager Mohammed Al-Arusi said, “Due to the weakness of these homes, the rains could cause great disaster. If we had had the money, we would've finished the restoration and the residents would be resettled in their homes by now.”

“The government has no knowledge in the historical field,” Al-Ariqi stated, “Never has the Ministry of Culture or any other authority conducted an awareness program for citizens about caring for our city and its valuable history.”

He added, “It's a disgrace to our country to be careless about our history and its importance to us and to the outside world. Everything can be changed except history.”

Experts working to restore and maintain historic homes must be well equipped with the knowledge and history about the importance of these buildings. However, in today's Yemen, most technicians and architects are only trained to construct or repair modern buildings, which also can cause complications for extensive restoration projects such as this.

“The new generation knows nothing and has no information, while the older generation, which has some knowledge, isn't made use of,” Al Ariqi added.

Al-Jubari noted that Old Sana'a's local council has offered to donate YR 10 million and that the restoration project again will use this financial source until it hears from the Culture Ministry.

The displaced residents have requested that UNESCO stop supporting the Old City of Sana'a because they feel that the money UNESCO donates doesn't go to the projects for which it was intended, such as restoring these historic homes. Since 1986, UNESCO has listed Old Sana'a among the international heritage cities on its World Heritage List.

Ibrahim Al-Mu'ayyad, one of the evacuated residents of a historic home, states, “I'm not a beggar asking for money from the government, but they asked us to leave our homes by offering us rent, which wasn't provided.”

Another victim of the Old Sana'a home collapse, Yahya 'Usda'a, said, “Old Sana'a is a victim in the hands of the officials. We're ashamed of the government treating us like refugees, with no rent and no repair for our homes. UNESCO and the world must look into this problem.”

UNESCO provides no financial support to the Yemeni government to maintain historical sites. Since the Old City of Sana'a was added to its World Heritage List, UNESCO has publicized the site and agreed to provide technical support to the government while Yemen's part of the agreement is to preserve the site using its own finances.

“It's now our nation's responsibility to show [UNESCO] that we deserve to be one of its World Heritage sites,” Ayssa points out, “UNESCO only offers guidance and no financing, so people must understand that the responsibilities is entirely ours.”

While the Yemeni population's role in historical preservation still is being developed, experts stress that Yemenis must be made more aware of their historic sites and take pride in them.

“The problem is that they hold the government responsible for everything, which isn't right,” Al-Ariqi noted, “On the other hand, the government must be concerned about assisting in its preservation – without any outside help – thereby adding to the glory of Yemen's history.”
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