|
|
 |
 |
| Sunday, 7 September 2003 |
 |
|
 |
Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
'Sigiriya Walk' controversy takes new turn The Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Cultural Affairs will be submitting fresh proposals to develop cultural tourism in Sigiriya. It will be implemented soon with the new recommendations of the Department of Archaeology and the Central Cultural Fund. by Shanika Sriyananda The controversy over the proposed 'Sigiriya Walk' is gathering womentum with the Buddhist clergy, entering the fray, alongside eco-graps and archaeologists to object to converting the historic rock garden into a literal 'carnival ground'. The 'Sigiriya Evening Walk' is the latest recreational programme designed by the Ministry of Tourism to attract more foreigners to the country. However, the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, has dismissed all objections by pointing out that the proposed 'walk' will not cause cultural or archaeological damage to Sigiriya. A top official of the Cultural Ministry told the 'Sunday Observer' that project would draw thousands of tourists to the country, but assured that the historical identity of the century old rock monastery, will be preserved. The official also said that the 'Sigiriya walk' project will be implemented only after a thorough study of its effectiveness and the impact it will have on the cultural and environmental around the rock monastry. A team of foreign experts, experienced in designing recreational activities in ancient sites, are due to visit the country next month to do a study on how to implement such a recreational project in Sigiriya. " Initially the officials of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and Ministry of Tourism together with the foreign and local experts will have a series of discussions on the suitability of such a project", he explained. He also said that since Sigiriya was declared a World Heritage Site, an expert from UNESCO would also join the team. However, tough resistance is being mounted by several concerned groups, including archologists. Dr. W. S. Wijepala, Commissioner of the Department of Archaeology, who is also opposed to the proposed project, said it was not suitable enough to depict the actual rich cultural heritage of Sigiriya. "But, we are not opposing any development project in Sigiriya to promote cultural tourism", he said adding the 'Evening walk' or 'Sound and Light show', what ever the theme, the project should give the realistic vision about Sigiriya's culture to the foreigners. According to him, some of the proposed activities distort the historical facts of Sigiriya. However, he said that any development project designed for Sigiriya should consider the historical values of Sigiriya. "We had a meeting with the two Ministers concerned, last week, and discussed our recommendations regarding this project. The two Ministers - Gamini Lokuge and Dr. Karunasena Kodituwakku accepted our proposals and the new modified concept will be issued soon", Dr. Wijepala said. Despite the strong objections, the Ministry of Tourism is keen to develop the Sigiriya Rock Garden as a popular site for cultural tourism, similar to India's Red Fort. Ministry officials said there would be no artificial constructions which would damage the site. "The Ministry of Tourism will not allow any project that would harm this world heritage site. But the proposed 'walk' will add a new dimension to the site and attract more tourists", Ministry officials said. Buddhists monks in the area have already complained to the relevant authorities and hope to handover a petition to Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe, requesting him to intervene to halt the project. The environmentalists, who are also strongly protesting any kind of cultural promotion at the site, claim that it will aggravate serious environmental problems in the area. They said that this proposal will violate the Fauna and Flora Ordinance and also the Antiquities Ordinance. Jagath Gunawardena, Attorney-at-law of the Society of Environmental Education (SEE) said that Sigiriya can never be compared to the Red Fort in India as it was declared a World Heritage Site. "Our objection the proposal are two fold-one is this recreational activity is against the culture, and the other is that this is a violation of the law of the country. The Antiquities Ordinance clearly states that any project that comes up in a declared archaeological site needs an Archaeological Impact Assessment (AIA). On the other hand, since Sigiriya is a sanctuary, any disturbance to the site and its fauna and flora is a violation of Section 7 of the Flora and Fauna Protection Ordinance", he added. According to Gunawardena, the proposed 'walk' will also aggravate the present human-elephant conflict in the area. "Elephants, whose drinking water resources, which are blocked for the proposed 'Evening walk'' will come to surrounding villages in search of water", he pointed out. However, if the relevant authorities turn a deaf ear to our objections, SEE intends to seek legal action to protect the valuable cultural heritage of the country. Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Haritha Movement (SLHM) has also launched a series of public awareness programs in Sigiriya and adjoining areas on the mis-use of the country's heritages to earn more foreign exchange. Suranjan Koddituwakku, Executive Director of the SLHM, is of the view that the impacts on environment and religious, cultural and social values are enormous. He said that the fauna in the Sigiriya Sanctuary would be disturbed due to lights and sounds of the night show. ********* by JAYAMPATHY JAYASINGHE Sri Lanka Tourist Board Chairman, Paddy Withana commenting on the 'Sigiriya walk' concept said that it was merely a proposal that was put forward by the Tourist Board with a view to attracting a larger number of foreign tourists to Sri Lanka. "In fact many foreigners have not heard of Sigiriya and our idea was to popularise Sigiriya like the Pyramids in Egypt with the assistance of a foreign company to install the light system." He said it wasn't their intention at all to cause any damage to the aesthetic beauty of Sigiriya as it was a national treasure. The project was to be implemented after discussing proposals with environmentalists, people in the area and with the relevant authorities. The initial plan was to attract 400 tourists every night to Sigiriya which would have been a boost to tourism. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
