Country's key historic places to be preserved

by Uditha KUMARASINGHE

Cultural Affairs and National Heritage Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi said the Government is expected to make a proposal at the UNESCO summit to be held in Brussels in August this year to declare several key historic places in Sri Lanka as world heritages including Sri Pada, Ambekke, Kandy, Mahiyangana, Seruvila and Trincomalee. The Minister is confident that the Government would be able to get the approval to the proposal at the summit. The Government is also to discuss with several countries to receive assistance to establish an international museum in Sri Lanka. Minister Wanniarachchi in an interview with the Sunday Observer elaborated on her plans to preserve and develop the cultural sector and the country's national heritage.

Q: What are your future plans to promote the cultural sector?

A: As long as people live in a country, there should be a culture. The culture represents the entire people in that country. Our country possess a very laudable culture. My task is to handle the Cultural Ministry to preserve the longstanding and laudable culture. The true development of a country means to develop the country economically, socially and culturally. Therefore, both cultural development and economic development is essential for a country.

Therefore, President Mahinda Rajapaksa vested me this Ministry considering this as a key Ministry which has to play a major role to promote and safeguard cultural values. In order to fulfil this task, a series of programs will be implemented by the Ministry in the near future.

Q: What kind of intervention can be made through the Cultural Ministry to get back the artifacts which had been taken to various foreign countries during the colonial era?

A: At present the Ministry is studying this issue. If our national heritages are under the wings of some foreign countries, we hope to discuss with those countries to bring back such precious artifacts. At present, I have entrusted the task to study on what kind of national artifacts that have been taken to some foreign countries based on the information we have gathered. I have requested them to present me with a comprehensive report after having an in depth study on it.

Q: After you assumed duties, you commenced a program to collect and record our "Nurthi Gee" to preserve them for the future generation. What is the progress of this program?

A: The main objective of the Tower Hall Foundation is to preserve the "Nurthi Gee" and other cultural traditions. At present, we have recorded most of these 'Nurthi Gee' (drama songs) to preserve them for the benefit of the next generation.

Q: What kind of steps have you taken to upgrade the conditions of the country's museums and also to educate the school children who visit these museums?

A: We have been able to bring the Colombo museum to a very high standard. Even the former Cultural Affairs Minister had made a tremendous effort in this regard. But certain financial allocation has to be made to upgrade the conditions of other museums in the country. The Colombo museum is a very old building. This building had not been constructed to suit a museum. Therefore, I am having discussions these days with several foreign countries to get their assistance to establish a museum of international level in Sri Lanka.

Q: There is a discrepancy in the information provided in Sinhala and English languages on various artifacts displayed at museums. What are your plans to overcome such shortcomings at museums?

A: I assumed duties of this Ministry one month ago. I visited all the institutions that comes under this Ministry and held progress review meetings with all key officials of these institutions. I had extensive discussions with them on the future plans as well. I have given instructions to the relevant officials that the information on all artifacts displayed at museums should be in all three languages. I also called the officials of the Department of National Museums and instructed them to make necessary arrangements to fill the existing vacancies in the Department by recruiting new employees such as interpreters and guides who are fluent in all three languages. In future, we hope to bring these museums to a very high standard.

Q:The selling of antiques is a key business trade in Sri Lanka. Very precious artifacts are exported to foreign countries in various ways while "treasure hunting" is also taking place. What kind of steps can be taken to prevent this archaeological destruction?

A: Treasure hunting is an offence which cannot be granted any bail. According to country's law, keeping an artifact or antique has not been defined as an offence. Goods made before 1815 have been defined as artifacts. Some antiques and artifacts are kept by the people at their home which had come from generation to generation. Our law does not define keeping such artifacts or antiques as an offence. But if somebody is arrested while attempting to unearth hidden treasures, it is defined as an offence which cannot be granted any bail. Of the antiques displayed in shops have been purchased from the people. But the law has not defined any specific provisions to restrict the selling of such antique goods.

Q: How do you intend to develop the National Art Council as an independent body to promote the country's art sector?

A: The appointment of all members to the National Art Council (NRC) has not yet been completed. I think these appointments should be made very carefully after a comprehensive study. No payment is made for the board members of this council and these appointments honorary. In the past various criticism were made on work done by the NRC including the conduct of the State Literary Festival. Therefore, I will have an indepth study on the function of the NRC and take steps to appoint its members within the next few weeks.

Q: Various archaeological sites are being identified in liberated areas in the North and the East. Has the Ministry taken steps to preserve these places as national heritage sites for the benefit of the future generation?

A: At present initial steps have been made to recruit new employees to the Archaeological Department. If we take the Archaeological Department as an example, it needs nearly ten directors. But it has only one director today. The vacancies for other directors have not been filled. According to the present recruitment procedure, there are no opportunities to recruit new directors. In order to become a Director, that person should possess ten years of experience working as a Deputy Director with a post graduate degree on archaeology. But it is very difficult to find such experienced Deputy Directors. In such a situation, opportunities are very rare to appoint new directors. As a result, there are vacancies for nine director posts for a long time. I have decided to change the present recruitment procedure and fill these director posts by vesting the responsibilities properly. According to the present recruitment procedure of the Archaeological Department, we have not been able to find qualified officers from Sri Lanka to fill these vacancies. I have taken immediate measures to overcome these shortcomings.

Q: Can you be satisfied with the present task carried out by the Archaeological Department?

A: There is a shortage of high level officers at the Department. As I mentioned earlier, there is no way to find out such qualified people from Sri Lanka. The Archaeological Department has not produced such skilled people and it has not been continuously built as a strong institution. Former Ministers have also not focused much attention on this department. As a result, there is a decline in the department. These days I have been discussing with key department officials to change its recruitment procedure. Definitely we will make a change on the present composition of the Archaeological Department shortly. We need prominent people to develop this sector. The Ministry has also decided to assist the graduates who have completed their degree on archaeology to follow post graduate degree in foreign countries to get their contribution to develop this sector.

Q: Results of archaeological researche do not reach the people properly. Has the Ministry decided to formulate a proper mechanism to popularise archaeological research among the people?

A: I think there is a lack of qualified people to conduct archaeological research well. As the Cultural Affairs Ministry and the Archaeological Department, we should be able to provide necessary assistance and produce qualified people to this sector. Therefore, it will take some time to produce qualified people. During a recent meeting, President Mahinda Rajapaksa instructed us to rebuild Anuradhapura city as a city which displays its ancient grandeur to the world. This would be a great task as this project has to be launched by preserving the entire ancient heritage within the city. We need skilled people who are equipped with knowledge to preserve artifacts and rebuild the places of archaeological value. But there is a lack of such prominent Doctors, Proffessors and other skilled people in Sri Lanka who are specialised on these subject of archaeology. The archaeological sector cannot be developed only from those who have studied on pre historic era. There is a need of the people who have studied on various other key areas in the archaeology. For an example, if we are going to develop an ancient city as a modern city, an archaeologist should be able to guide how to develop that city by preserving its ancient grandeur. One of our major tasks is to produce such people with the assistance of the Ministry.

Q: What kind of measures are to be taken by the Ministry to safeguard the country's national heritage and promote it locally and internationally?

A: We have an intangible heritage in Sri Lanka such as our religious traditions, various methods of worship, folk songs, traditional dances and traditional performances invoking the blessings of spirits. When the UNESCO representatives met me recently, I requested them to declare all these ancient things as world heritage. If these are accepted as world heritages, we can attract a large number of foreign tourists to Sri Lanka. UNESCO pledged that they will try to do it. But they requested to do a proper documentation on these heritages and pledged to grant money for it. At present, we are coordinating this process. We are going to make a request at the UNESCO summit to be held in Brussels in August this year to declare several historic places as world heritages including Sri Pada, Ambekke, Kandy, Mahiyangana, Seruwila and Trincomalee. I am confident we would be able to get approval to our proposals at this summit.

Q: Has the Ministry taken any measures to preserve the frescoes at Sigiriya?

A: Following the guidelines given by me, a permanent team of chemists have been appointed to monitor these frescoes daily.

They will monitor this process round the clock. Therefore, no damage will be caused to these frescoes in the future.