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Monumental
inaction The absence of markings proclaiming their status as protected sites and lack of regular inspection have led to some of these places being destroyed or left to deteriorate. More than 600 sites have been gazetted upto 2002 as protected monuments under the Antiquities Ordinance which gives powers to the Cultural Affairs Minister to declare them so, if in his opinion "any ancient monument on any land other than Crown land is in danger of destruction or removal, or damage from neglect or injudicious treatment, and that it is in the public interest that such monuments should be protected." Places that are more than 100 years old can be included in such a declaration. Despite the requirement that officials in regional offices of the Department visit the sites that are declared ancient monuments from time to time, this does not happen regularly. A shortage of staff and insufficient funds have hindered the work of the Archaeological Department. Apathy among members of the public to safeguard such places has also not helped. Archaeology is not taught as a subject in schools but is limited to university curricula. An official in the Archaelogy field said it was necessary to inculcate an early interest among the future generations to ensure these ancient monuments are not destroyed. Among the ancient monuments gazetted in Colombo is the General Post Office building in Fort but the interior of the building has been neglected for several years and hardly any restoration work has been carried out on it. The building is now confined to the high security zone area. Another place is the Obeysekara "Walawwa" in Rajagiriya which was gazetted as a monument in 1992 but has been neglected since the death of its last owner in 2001. Since then, it is alleged that some people have occupied the house illegally and there is an on going legal battle regarding the property. It is alleged that the place is being used as a car sale centre. The house which is over 150 years old is said to have been the abode of famous personalities such as a former Governor of Ceylon Sir Edward Barnes, Ananda Coomaraswamy and Anagarika Dharmapala. It was purchased by Donald Obeysekera at the beginning of the last century. Relatives of Mr. Obeysekera charge that some of the valuable ancient wooden beadings in the house have been removed and that it is being gradually destroyed paving the way for its final demolition They also say that there are loopholes in the relevant legislation as it does not make it mandatory for the Archaeological Department to notify such a declaration to the appropriate Land Registry which in turn would make relevant buyers and notaries aware of the restrictions and encumbrances on such property they wish to purchase. An official of the Land Registry in Colombo, confirmed there was no such legal requirement and said they go by the documents submitted by a notary for registration. Keerthi Vishvamatha, Additional Director General of the Archaelogical Department told The Sunday Times that the Department does not buy land, so there was no necessity to notify the Land Registry. "What we do is just declare it as a protected area and get it gazetted. The land belongs to its real owner. We do not buy the land, nor pay any compensation. But we do not let them do any renovations without our permission," Mr. Vishvamatha said. Under the Antiquities Act, no person can carry out any work of restoration, repair, and alteration or addition in connection with any protected monument except with the authority of the Archaeological Commissioner. Another ancient building in Colombo-which houses one of Sri Lanka's leading Buddhist schools-was declared an ancient monument by the Archaeological Department in 1999, but now they are in a dilapidated condition. Sir Henry Steele Olcott, a pioneer in founding schools for children to do their studies in a Buddhist atmosphere once lived in this building. It was put up in the 19th century and now it is in a decaying state. The President of Parama Vignanarta Buddhist Association, S. P. Weerasekara told The Sunday Times that the building belongs to the Association. "The Archaeological Department has promised to restore the building but they say they do not have funds," Mr. Weerasekara said. He said the Archaelogical Department will carryout the repairs next year with funds provided by the association. "Although the building has been declared a protected site by the Archaeological Department, they put off the repairs till the Association came up with the funds," Mr. Weerasekera charged. A boutique owner now illegally occupies one part of the building and the Association has gone to courts against the boutique owner. As the case is pending, the boutique owner continues with his work. Meanwhile the usual passing of the buck continues with the Archaeological Department charging that it was the Parama Vignanarta Buddhist Association that had rented out the building to some people while the association says that the building had been occupied forcibly. The Shailabimbaramaya in Galle is another such site, that requires urgent repairs. The 100 ton, Buddha statue in the temple is believed to have been brought from India. The temple also has some ancient inscriptions and paintings, but these are fast deteriorating because the roof of the building is crumbling. Residents in the area say that the Archaelogical Department had brought some tiles to the premises in 1997 and they were still lying there untouched and unused.They also charge that some inferior quality wooden planks had been brought to the premises early this year, but there was no sign of any restoration work. The Archaelogical Department defends its move saying they have putoff the restoration work till they find the exact matching wood. There also appears to be a sense of disinterest on the part of the public but this is mainly because of a lack of knowledge regarding the value of these archaelogical sites. The Department has now decided to put up new signboards at these archaelogical sites with a warning that those who damage those places would be prosecuted. Department officials also say that it is not possible for them to oversee all the ancient sites, but will take action if they get to know of any serious damage to any of the sites. "Some people say ancient buildings such as the Rajamaha Viharas are totally neglected. We cannot be responsible for all of them. We attend to it depending on the merits of each case," Mr. Vishvamatha explained. Commenting on the Grand Oriental Hotel in Fort, he said although it was a protected site, there were no regular checks on whether authorities were abiding by the requirement of not making any structural changes to the building. He also said that the Department had the power to take legal action against those who flout the law regarding any declared site. Protected
sites Under the Antiquities Act, once a gazette notification is issued, time is granted for objections to be filed by those who own or occupy the buildings so named as protected sites. Even though objections to the latest list had to be made by September 15 this year, an extension has been granted due to the large numbers of objections that have come from the residents of the Galle Fort. The new list gazetted includes several buildings in the Kandy town including the Queen's Hotel and the Empire Hotel buildings. The old church within the Methodist church yard in Rawatawatta as well as the jubilee post in Nugegoda are gazetted as well. |
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