Egypt's Min. of Tourism & Antiquities launches initiative to clean, maintain statues in public squares nationwide

Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled el-Enany and Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Mostafa Waziry launched an extensive initiative by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities to clean and maintain statues in public squares in all governorates.

They toured the streets and squares of Cairo on February 14, overseeing the work done on a number of statues including the lion statues of Qasr al-Nil and the statue of Simon Bolivar in downtown Cairo.

The Ministry of Tourism & Antiquities has launched this campaign in order to preserve the statues in public squares, whether archaeological or non-archaeological, in cooperation with the concerned governorates.

Cleaning and maintenance work is carried out by restorers of the Supreme Council of Antiquities to highlight the beauty of these statues, as part of the state's efforts to add a cultural and aesthetic touch to the governorates' public squares.

On February 14, restorers have begun work in 22 governorates, and work will continue in the rest of the governorates, to include the removal of writings and dust, using dry and wet mechanical cleaning, depending on what the statue is made of, in addition to protection, correction, isolation, revival and gilding of the existing texts.