In brief [Archives:2007/1101/Local News]
ABYAN
– Germany to support water, sanitation project
Nov. 6 ) Abyan Governor Mohammed Shamlan on Tuesday discussed with a German Ministry of Water and Environment delegation, headed by water program director, preparations to implement a $20-million German-financed water and sanitation project for the governorate's Zunjubar and Ja'ar cities.
The German official confirmed that the project, which will begin in the first half of 2008, will gain the German government's interest within a framework of German support for Yemen in order to improve water resources and develop institutional infrastructures for water management institutions.
ADEN
– Symposium on constitutional amendments prepared
Nov. 5 ) Preparations were underway Monday at Aden University via committees established to hold a scientific symposium on draft constitutional amendments.
Aden University Secretary-General Ahmed Saleh Mansour told press Monday that the symposium's importance lies in highlighting the presidential system's current status to develop Yemen's political regime.
The symposium will deal with all issues in draft amendments presented by President Ali Abdullah Saleh, touching on decentralization, expanding the powers of local councils and increasing women's participation in political life.
Mansour noted that a group of professors and specialists will participate in the event, the date of which will be set this month.
AL-DHALE'
– University planned
Nov 5 ) President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Monday directed his government to adopt a plan to build a university in Al-Dhale' governorate under a plan to meet the educational needs of the governorate's population, as well as the governorate's development needs.
Official sources report that the coming period will witness practical measures to establish a Faculty of Society, which, besides the current College of Education, will form the nucleus of Al-Dhale' University.
Governor Mohammed Ahmed Al-Ansi says Al-Dhale' University will be one of the governorate's vital and strategic projects.
SANA'A
– King Howtar Athat statue to be exhibited Saturday
Nov. 5 ) The bronze statue of ancient Yemeni King Howtar Athat will be displayed at the National Museum in Sana'a on Saturday.
Total for oil exploration stated in a press release that it had funded the $150,000 project to repair the statue in Paris, noting that funding the Bronze Man's repair is part of its support for social and cultural programs in Yemen.
Standing 1 meter and 65 cm. tall, the King Howtar Athat statue is one of two statues of that large size and a very rare discovery in Yemen. It is from the Sabaean period and embodies a personality who lived in Al-Jawf governorate's Nashaq city during the 6th century B.C.
Repairs continued in Paris from December 2006 until May of this year, according to an agreement between Yemen's Public Authority for Antiquities and Museums and the Louvre Museum in France.
ZABID
– Cabinet forms committee to protect city
Nov. 6 ) The Yemeni Cabinet has formed a committee, headed by Yemen's culture minister, to implement measures to protect Zabid city, including banning new construction, as well as banning the destruction of city buildings.
The Cabinet also directed the Ministry of Culture General Organization for the Preservation Of Historic Cities to ratchet up the process of enacting an architectural heritage law in order to create clear legal grounds to meet the requirements of protecting such cities.
Additionally, the Cabinet ordered a national campaign to remove all waste and ban new construction in Zabid.
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