Tanzania’s Zanzibar President Hussein Ali Mwinyi on Wednesday vowed to preserve the Stone Town, Zanzibar archipelago’s outstanding example of a Swahili trading town.
“My administration will use available financial resources to make sure the Stone Town continues to retain its urban fabric and townscape, including buildings that reflect its particular culture,” said Mwinyi when he inaugurated a tourist hotel in the area.
He said the government of Zanzibar will continue renovating buildings in the Stone Town, including the People’s Palace, to their outstanding cultural and architectural values.
According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the buildings of the Stone Town, executed principally in coralline ragstone and mangrove timber, reflect a complex fusion of Swahili, Indian, Arab and European influences in building traditions and town planning.
Mwinyi directed the Stone Town Conservation and Development Authority to ensure that businesses in the area did not tamper with the historical architectural designs of the area.
Stone Town was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. Enditem
