Di fountain probe
2005-10-24 15:45
London - British lawmakers are to question officials about a series of problems that plagued the public fountain built to commemorate the late Diana, Princess of Wales, British media reported on Monday.
The £3.6m monument, in London's Hyde Park, was closed for four months after setbacks including faulty pumps, blockages, muddy grass and slippery paddling areas.
Dame Sue Street, from the government Department for Culture, Media and Sport which oversaw the lottery-funded project, and Mark Camley, chief executive of Royal Parks, which runs Hyde Park, will face parliament's Public Accounts Committee on November 2.
The fountain, designed by US architect Kathryn Gustafson, was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in July last year but alongside its well-documented problems, was given a less than favourable response from sections of the British media.
Some described the shallow granite oval channel filled with running water as a "puddle" and "Diana's ditch".
Mohammed Al Fayed, the owner of British department store Harrods, whose son Dodi died in the same Paris car crash that killed Diana in August 1997, said it resembled "a sewage works".
The fountain has, however, proved popular with Britons and foreign tourists as the only public memorial to the late princess in London.
- SAPA