The governor of Oran is in a hurry to restore the “Al-Basha” mosque – Al-Hiwar Al-Jazairia

The governor of the state of Oran, Saïd Saoud, gave strict, urgent instructions to the Director of Culture, in order to write to the Ministry of Will, to allocate a financial envelope, to undertake the restoration and preparation of the “Al-Basha” mosque, located in the ancient neighborhood of Sidi El-Hawari and the rehabilitation of this important religious and historical landmark.

The instructions of the governor of Oran come at a time when this historical landmark in the city of Oran is witnessing a state of deterioration, against the background of the repeated collapse of its parts, in the absence of the intervention of the departments in charge of heritage and culture in the province of Oran, especially after the ambiguity surrounding the restoration project that was announced a while ago, and did not embodied in reality.

The “Al-Basha” mosque in the city of Oran recently witnessed a series of partial collapses of some of the external walls surrounding it, at a time when its courtyard was exposed to an internal collapse of the soil, and large cracks in the walls, which also happened at the level of the mosque’s perimeter and its minaret.

According to the specialists, the risk of the collapse of the “Al-Basha” mosque increased due to its presence over an underpass of the Ruwaina Valley, which leads directly to the port of Oran.

Civil society activities and a number of activists in Oran launched a cleaning campaign for this historical landmark this Friday, corresponding to the 24th of February, as they called on all activities and residents of the city of Oran to participate in this campaign, which would remove the dust from the status of this historical landmark.

It is worth noting that the Hassan Al-Pasha Mosque was built in 1797 during the reign of the Grand Bey, by order of Baba Hassan Pasha, Algiers, the capital. The first imam of the mosque was Sheikh Sidi Muhammad Al-Sani Al-Mahaji.

Oran: A. Amal