An ad-hoc committee of archaeologists is currently being assigned to come up with technical solutions to save the 200-year old palace of Mohamed Ali Pasha in the Cairo suburb of Shubra el-Kheima, which was subject to a faulty restoration process back in the late l990s. A large contractor company was then assigned the task, despite its lack of expertise in restoration of historic buildings. The company in turn entrusted a sub-contractor with a LE56 million project, which the Architectural Department for Islamic and Coptic Antiquities of the Supreme Council of Antiquities refused to endorse, although the restored palace was inaugurated in 2008. Restoration expert Reda Abdallah pointed a finger at the ministry of culture in the former Ahmed Nazif cabinet for accepting the primitive and unspecialised restoration methods used. He explained that much emphasis given to landscape and decorative elements, neglecting appropriate archaeological handling of the architectural and structural basics. He cited an example of the use of heavy sheets of lead for the insulation of the ceilings, which proved to put too much pressure on the wooden ceiling lining. The result, as he told Al-Ahram Arabic daily, is the collapse of some parts of the restored ceiling, starting with a 25-square-metre area. Experts expect, however, that other parts of the ceiling are due to fall owing to the dilapidated condition of the wooden ceilings, which are contemporaneous with the original palace itself. He added that the company carrying out the work had applied restoration systems that violate standard specifications, which can be very easily traced by an experienced eye, especially in the treatment of coloured ornamentation of the ceilings and portraits of Mohamed Ali and his family lining corridors. He was equally appalled at the company's glaring mistake of dispensing with the original chandeliers imported from Belgium and Italy to replace them with modern local-made ones of lower quality and value, with no relation to the overall historic style of the palace. He raised a large question mark on the whereabouts of the genuine pieces. The committee has also found leakage of rainwater in some corners, which has damaged parts of the embellished ceilings. The European-styled palace of Mohamed Ali (Egypt's ruler from l805-l848), which is registered as an Islamic monument, was built in l808 in the middle of a large garden that embraced rare trees and plants. Inside the palace there is a large marble fountain that takes the form of crocodiles. The ad-hoc committee is now required to thoroughly examine the wood lining to test its endurability, see whether it is void of woodworms or not and suggest suitable treatment methods that would effectively restore the grandeur of the monument.
