UNESCO has informed the government of Sri Lanka that it would be compelled to remove several archeological sites in Sri Lanka from the world heritage list as they have not been maintained properly,

Golden Temple of Dambulla-© OUR PLACE The World Heritage Collection
by: Amos Chapple-UNESCO

Old Town of Galle and its Fortifications-© UNESCO-
by: Giovanni Boccardi

Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam said UNESCO has recently warned that Dambulla cave temple and Galle Fort would have to be removed from the World Heritage Site list considering the deterioration of their conditions.

Minister Kariyawasam, under whose purview the Department of Archeology comes, told a media briefing that UNESCO had informed him that it would have to remove sites such as Dambulla and Galle Fort from the world heritage list as they were not maintained properly.

“The negligence of Archeological Department has contributed to this state of affairs. It has not taken adequate measures to conserve them during the previous reign. Now we have taken urgent measures to improve their conditions and conserve them. We have also sought the help of international experts in this regard,” the Minister said.

“The biggest issue is unlawful settlements in the lands which belong to these sites. The government will be compelled to bring in laws on unlawful settlements in order to safeguard world heritage sites in Sri Lanka and to minimize damages from natural disasters,” he said.

Minister Kariyawasam further said that law has not been implemented by the previous government for the illegal settlements in these heritage sites. And Department has failed to identify the archeological sites and mark their boundaries in the East after the war ended.

(Compiled from Media Reports in Colombo Newspapers)