Committee to protect archaeology sites

Priyanka Kurugala

Action will be taken to draw a new tourism map including many ancient sites of the country such as the square of Wayamba and Deegawapi.

The Archaeological Department should draw their future plans to activate this tourism map, National Heritage and Cultural Affairs Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi said.

The Minister said around 250,000 archaeological monuments have been identified by the Archaeological Department.

The Department does not have a systematic method to protect them. Due to this, all should pay their attention to protect these monuments.

She was addressing a meeting where appointment letters were handed over to members of the Archaeological Advisory Committee at the Archaeological Department recently.

“A lot of countries have many archaeological sites. Yet there is no other small country like Sri Lanka which has a lot of archaeological sites.

Therefore we should be proud of our country which has a proud history,” she said. The Ministry, under the guidance of the new advisory committee expects to direct the Archaeological Department towards a new direction, she said.

The Ministry has established this committee to protect archaeological sites.

It expects to launch many economic development programs along with tourism under this Committee. “We should stop treasure hunting,” the Minister said.

The Advisory Committee consists of 45 veteran officers in the archaeological field.