UNESCO emissaries to make inspection visit to Pompeii

(ANSA) Naples, November 7 - UNESCO representatives Christopher Young and Jean Pierre Adam will visit Pompeii Saturday at the start of a five-day mission to evaluate progress in the Great Pompeii Project, official sources said.
    The two envoys of the UN Educational and Scientific Organisation will make a four day carry out a series of inspections to inspect the state of conservation and ascertain progress by Italy in the Great Pompeii project and in making improvements agreed between UNESCO and the Italian culture ministry (MIBACT), said the sources.
    The two will receive briefings from the Superintendent of Pompeii, Massimo Osanna, the Director General of the Great Pompeii Project Giovanni Nistri and officials responsible for maintenance and restoration of the site.
    The UNESCO ambassadors also will try to determine the state of play in implementation of the Management Plan for Pompeii that was drawn up following an agreement signed in Paris in November 2011 between the Italian Minister for cultural Heritage and UNESCO designed "to endow the site with an instrument of transparent management".
    UNESCO officials have criticised Italian authorities in the past for what is seen as dragging their feet in implementing changes to protect and enhance Pompeii's priceless archaeological treasures and its tourist-famed erotic frescoes.