A canal by any other name
Egypt issues new stamp erroneously showing the Panama Canal instead of the Suez Canal
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Egypt issued new stamps commemorating a plan to expand the Suez Canal, but used an image of the Panama Canal instead.
The stamps were issued last month, but the error was not discovered until several days ago when an Egyptian Twitter user, academic Amro Ali from Alexandria, noticed and posted the stamps online, the Telegraph reported Saturday.
“Major fail,” Ali noted.
The stamps were issued to support the Egyptian government’s push to modernize the canal, which dates from the 19th century. The plan, which calls for a major expansion of the canal to allow simultaneous two-way traffic, has caused controversy because thousands of residents in the canal zone will have to leave their homes to make way for the renovation.
#Egypt issues stamps of "new Suez Canal", but steals an image of the #Panama Canal instead. Major fail. pic.twitter.com/psUm2u17M2
— Amro Ali (@_amroali) September 13, 2014
The canal brings in around $4.8 million each year, an important source of revenue for cash-strapped Egypt. The renovation is expected to cost some $3.9 million, the funding to be raised by the selling of international investment bonds by Cairo.
An Egyptian official reportedly said that the government is aware of the stamp issue and is working to correct it.
The Times of Israel Community.