Zee Media Bureau
Washington: As the US shutdown entered its twelfth day on Sunday without any solution in sight, it has been decided to reopen some tourist attractions after a funding deal was struck to pay the workers.
The major tourist attractions to reopen are the Statue of Liberty, the Grand Canyon and Mount Rushmore for which the states of New York, Arizona and South Dacota will be shelling out funds, reported the Guardian.
Additionally, Mount Rushmore, Rocky Mountain National Park and other parks in Utah and Colorado have also been reopened for a week.
The states of New York and Arizona have pledged 230,000 pounds and Arizona 400,000 pounds respectively, the state of Utah will be shelling out more than one million pounds to re-open Mount Rushmore, Rocky Mountain National Park and eight federal sites for 10 days, reports said.
While the Liberty Island National Park, home to the Statue of Liberty, costs $61,600 (£38,599) per day to keep open, the reopening of the Grand Canyon will cost the state of Arizona $93,000 (£58,274) per day, adds the report.
The decision to reopen the major tourist hubs comes as the US shutdown is weighing down on tourism industry with several of employees on unpaid leave and losses in businesses associated with tourism.
The shutdown has already sent over three and a half lakh federal employees on an unpaid leave.
The Governor of Arizona said, "While this deal will buy us some time and bring back lost revenue to the state, I would hope our elected officials in Washington move urgently to negotiate an immediate end to this government standstill," Arizona state governor, Jan Brewer, said.
"Arizona is doing what it can to keep the Grand Canyon up and running, but we cannot pay the federal government`s tab for long," he added.
