The Aga Khan Trust for Culture will spend 2.6b/- for the rehabilitation of Forodhani park in Zanzibar?s historical Stone Town.
The revitalisation project will upgrade social and recreational amenities, including walkways, improvement to the park`s landscaping, lighting, sewerage, drainage and civic amenities.
Speaking yesterday at the project`s launching ceremony held here, Zanzibar First Lady Shadya Karume said rehabilitation of the park would help strike a balance between competing uses as a park and area of beauty, as well as economic opportunities.
Zanzibar is endowed with remarkable cultural attractions and natural beauty, and has also been a centre for trade and cultural exchange with the outside world for centuries.
She said the park currently faced a number of challenges, including ensuring that valuable natural resources and economic assets remained intact and were used in suitable manner.
Forodhani Park is part and parcel of the history and culture of Zanzibar and its people, but due to its abuse and mismanagement, its beauty had deteriorated, she said.
The First Lady suggested that the project should aim at restoring the original plan of the park, its user-friendly infrastructure and flora so as to improve the quality of life of the people surrounding it.
Prince Amyn Aga Khan said at the occasion that restoration of Forodhani park was part of Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC)`s long-term objective to revitalise the historical seafront of Stone Town.
He said the rehabilitation was a major contribution to the social, cultural and economic development of the island, and that it should lead to its self-sustainability.
``Forodhani park should emerge as self-sustainable through income-generating activities on site from operation and neighbouring development,`` he said.
The decision to rehabilitate the park followed a meeting between President Amani Abeid Karume and His Highness the Aga Khan at which an agreement for restoration of the park was signed in 2002.
The project, expected to take approximately one year, is jointly undertaken by the AKTC and the government of Zanzibar.
SOURCE: Guardian