Antique anacoda attracts 10,000 pounds bounty in UK
3 Nov 2012 6:35 AM IST
UK foreign minister William Hague has come under fire after it emerged that his officials paid 10,000 pounds to re-stuff an antique giant anaconda.
The 20-foot snake, named Albert, which has been in the possession of the Foreign Office for at least 120 years, is believed to have been presented to colonial officials in what is now Guyana.
Albert was found to have fallen into a poor state of repair, during routine maintenance in the Foreign Office's ornate Whitehall headquarters, the 'Telegraph' reported. Civil servants who discovered his condition judged it ‘essential’ to restore the ‘unique historic heirloom’, which was suspended from the ceiling of a library, for ‘posterity’.
At a cost of 10,000 pounds to the taxpayer, the 120-year-old reptile underwent five weeks of conservation work by experts at the Natural History Museum during May and June.
‘The level of detailed, delicate work in the restoration involved an intensive amount of care and attention from highly trained staff,’ a spokesman said.
The Foreign Office insisted that the painstaking efforts were necessary because the snake had been an official gift to Britain.
‘As a gift to the [Foreign and Commonwealth Office], Albert is therefore regarded as an FCO asset.
‘As such the FCO is obliged to maintain its assets, and the work on Albert was essential maintenance,’ the department said in response to a freedom of information request.
However, the TaxPayers' Alliance has criticised the decision to spend 10,000 pounds on restoring Albert. ‘When taxpayers are being squeezed for every penny, it's bonkers that theyve had to fork out to stuff William Hague's snake. ‘This costly anaconda could have been donated elsewhere.
The 20-foot snake, named Albert, which has been in the possession of the Foreign Office for at least 120 years, is believed to have been presented to colonial officials in what is now Guyana.
Albert was found to have fallen into a poor state of repair, during routine maintenance in the Foreign Office's ornate Whitehall headquarters, the 'Telegraph' reported. Civil servants who discovered his condition judged it ‘essential’ to restore the ‘unique historic heirloom’, which was suspended from the ceiling of a library, for ‘posterity’.
At a cost of 10,000 pounds to the taxpayer, the 120-year-old reptile underwent five weeks of conservation work by experts at the Natural History Museum during May and June.
‘The level of detailed, delicate work in the restoration involved an intensive amount of care and attention from highly trained staff,’ a spokesman said.
The Foreign Office insisted that the painstaking efforts were necessary because the snake had been an official gift to Britain.
‘As a gift to the [Foreign and Commonwealth Office], Albert is therefore regarded as an FCO asset.
‘As such the FCO is obliged to maintain its assets, and the work on Albert was essential maintenance,’ the department said in response to a freedom of information request.
However, the TaxPayers' Alliance has criticised the decision to spend 10,000 pounds on restoring Albert. ‘When taxpayers are being squeezed for every penny, it's bonkers that theyve had to fork out to stuff William Hague's snake. ‘This costly anaconda could have been donated elsewhere.
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