A week after ARIJ published the investigation “Time Bombs… Generators threaten inhabitants of Old Sanaa and its landmarks”, The General Organization for the Preservation of the Historic Cities of Yemen (GOPHCY) (affiliated to the Ministry of Culture) sent official memorandums to many competent authorities, demanding them to take the necessary measures to remove the generators from the city.
The memorandums stated that “the electricity generators operating in old Sana’a lead to the deformation of the city’s homes and causing damage to them”, and that “this phenomenon has made Sana’a at risk of being removed from the World Heritage List”.
The GOPHCY noted that it had used all administrative and legal means to limit the expansion of generators and not bring them into the vicinity of old homes. In a memorandum sent to the head of the Public Funds Prosecution Appeal in the Capital Secretariat, the GOPHCY requested the issuance of parliamentary orders approving the removal of all generators from Old Sana’a because “its traditional, archaeological homes cannot withstand the vibrations resulting from them, as well as the threat to the health of neighbors from toxic exhausts, based on the articles of Conservation Law No. (16) of 2013”.
In another memorandum to the Director General of the Electricity Corporation, the GOPHCY demanded to supply that electricity to all homes and neighborhoods of the old city of Sana’a at reduced prices, to encourage subscribers not to deal with commercial generators located in the city.
