Prince Sultan Bin Salman, Chairman of the Saudi Commission on Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA), talked about the development of heritage sites and museums, the need to preserve the nation's antiquities, and the Al-Oqair project in an exclusive interview with Okaz, the first part of which was published on Monday, Feb. 2. Asked about SCTA's plans for the preservation of antiquities in the Kingdom, Prince Sultan said that the strategy goes beyond merely preserving and protecting antiquities and historical sites. The SCTA, he said, also focuses on the development of heritage areas and their contribution to the nation's economy. “We took governors and heads of municipalities to various countries where for the first time they observed the link between economic growth and urban heritage sites,” he said. These visits, he said, helped the SCTA to establish a new company for the development of the nation's palaces to promote domestic tourism. “We are working on a huge project to develop archeological sites on the Red Sea and to link them to historical sites. Apart from this, we are studying with Yanbu Municipality a project for developing tourist resorts on the town's shores. This project is linked with the restoration of historic Yanbu districts including Dhiba, Umluj, Al-Wajh and Yanbu seaports,” he said. Prince Sultan also spoke about plans to develop Madain Saleh. “Work is under way to restore the historic village in Al-Ula besides developing tourist resorts in Al-Wajh. In fact we do not think unilaterally; we think about the development of tourism in an integrated manner as one package,” he said. About the strategy for new private museums, Prince Sultan said that for the first time, the Commission has issued licenses for 34 private museums. “It should be understood that when a person gets a license, he should open the museum according to the set time and provide all safety measures besides registering the relics and other artifacts with the concerned authorities,” he said. The Commission supports the owners of private museums financially through the five aid programs which it has set up with the Centennial Fund, he said. “We have finalized a plan for five new museums which will be tendered next month. They are fully financed by the government and will be built in Dammam, Asir, Hail, Tabuk and Al-Baha. We are also working on an integrated project for the development of 11 museums, and we are planning to construct seven new museums that will be set up in historical palaces, such as Al-Badee'ah Palace in Riyadh. We are also working together with the Riyadh Development Authority and Riyadh Mayoralty to acquire the buildings around these palaces in order to convert them into a public park. This particular palace will serve as an archive for photos which depict the Kingdom's history. Regarding the need to be vigilant in the preservation of antiquities, Prince Sultan said that the preservation of the Kingdom's urban heritage is very important because it reflects the country's national history. He pointed out that two years ago, two important archeological sites were demolished by mistake, adding that they would, however, be reconstructed. Prince Sultan said: “The Hijaz railway bridge in Madina was demolished by mistake. However, in cooperation with the Mayor of Madina, we have collected five volumes of studies for the reconstruction of the demolished bridge. The Madina Mayoralty will offer the reconstruction project of the bridge for public bid. An allocation for its construction has already been made. Also, in Al-Namas an archeological tower was demolished by mistake and will be reconstructed soon by the municipality.” Al-Oqair problems Regarding the Al-Oqair Project and whether or not its delay indicates that there is some difficulty with the project, Prince Sultan said that in fact, there are no problems. “We have taken our time in crystallizing the idea of the project,” he said, “and we have submitted the matter to the Supreme Economic Council which has issued its approval to start negotiating with the developers. We have already invited the first developer in accordance with the prequalification plan. It should be borne in mind that the ministerial committee has selected the developers with transparency and honesty. I set a precedent by withdrawing myself from the ministerial committee and the selection process is taking place with utmost transparency. We will launch the negotiations this week in cooperation with the Ministries of Finance and Municipal and Rural Affairs. Ministry for Tourism and Antiquities Asked if the time is right for converting the SCTA into a ministry as is the case in many countries of the world, Prince Sultan said the Commission is not less important than a ministry in that it reports directly to King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. Moreover, its Board of Directors consists of 13 government agencies. “We have excellent cooperation with all government agencies. We have also established a deep-rooted partnership concept with all the state's institutions. Thus, many government institutions have started following a method similar, if not identical, to the way we run the Commission. Whether we are or are not a ministry is not so important. The most important thing is that the Commission should be able to fulfill the role for which it has been created and to achieve tangible results. So far we have taken a number of important decisions for the restructuring of this vital national economic sector. Also, we have succeeded to some extent in carrying out the strategy according to the set timetable. It is quite noticeable that there is now great enthusiasm to achieve the goals of national tourism, and that people now see the business opportunities that tourism presents. We are busy developing the Commission and assessing the progress that we have made so that the nation's tourism potential becomes a reality.
