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| Tuesday, 19 October 2004 |
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Politics | |
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| Heritage and values should be safeguarded within new ideas - Minister Herath by Nadira Gunatilleke We need to safeguard and promote our heritage, so that our future generations could learn about our past, about our forefathers, take courage from them and learn from them in order to develop further within new ideas, Cultural Affairs and National Heritage Minister Vijitha Herath said. Addressing the inauguration seminar on 'Harnessing Heritage for Sustainable Development for Countries in the South Asian Region', the Minister said that all people of the society, should be included as important participants in development efforts, so that they can choose to be who they are. 'We need to provide them the opportunity to harness the full potential in body, mind and spirit. Our education systems too should therefore make serious attempts to bring out the creativity in every person, so that they could find their own sustainability, even if they do not find other means of employment they do not become social dropouts', Herath said. "As far as we understand cultural policies are one of the key components of the development strategy. To achieve the successful social development status of the society, policy-makers have to formulate clear and achievable policies to uplift the human life. The process of upliftment of human life is the main component of the development process. We need to have the cooperation of various ministries in order to achieve our targets. We need to open ourselves to other cultures as well. As Mahatma Gandhi said "I want all the cultures of all the world to flow freely across my window. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any". It is through fusion and exchange of ideas with the outside world, that our cultures would develop further", he added. Environment and Natural Resources Minister A.H.M.Fowzie said that human activities affect biodiversity of the world and as a result of the floods, longlasting droughts, climate changes and other natural disasters take place. People have a tendency to devalue heritage and disregard environment. Minister Fowzie pointed out that in the past people used traditional agricultural methods and no destruction was caused to the environment. He stressed the importance of promoting traditional agricultural methods in order to protect the bond between humans and nature. UNESCO Representative, Director, Prof. Tawfik and Program Specialist/Culture, UNESCO, New Delhi, R. P. Perera also spoke. |
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