A member of the House of Representatives, Amira Abu-Shoka, demanded that the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities be held accountable after a video clip spread online showed some workers and technicians seemingly damaging stones at the Great Pyramid of Khufu.
In an urgent statement submitted to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hanfy al-Gebaly and addressed to the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Sherif Fathy, Abu-Shoka warned that this video poses a threat to Egypt’s reputation as a tourist destination, as it has spread rumors of demolition work being done at the Pyramid of Khufu.
She said that it is unreasonable that a stray dog can market tourism to Egypt with little effort or planning, bringing in free advertising worth millions of dollars, while the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities squanders this good publicity and money by damaging an ancient landmark.
She explained that the statement issued by the Operations Room of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities confirms mismanagement at play, as it spoke about changing the electricity network for lighting the Great Pyramid, which should not have been handled in this “random and primitive way”.
Abu-Shoka added that this happened during official working hours in the pyramid archaeological area, and before the area was closed leading to public backlash.
She stressed the need to hold accountable the minister and all officials in the ministry, who have tarnished the tourism reputation of Egypt and the pyramids.
Abu-Shoka stressed that it is unacceptable to blame the company carrying out the electricity maintenance work while allowing the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities to evade its original responsibilities.
She asked: “What if the person carrying out the maintenance work harmed the monument itself, and where was the supervising committee?”
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
