Urban Development Minister Dinesh Gunawardene last week called for a joint effort to re-build Lanka’s coastal belt ravaged by the recent tsunami.

Addressing a work-shop organised by the Sri Lanka National committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), he said, "During a national catastrophe of this nature, help of the professionals such as architects, engineers and academics are greatly valued. Their advice and participation helped to plan and organise rehabilitation activities for uplifting the socio-cultural and economic standard of the affected people, he said.

ICOMOS Sri Lanka being the local chapter of the prestigious international organisation of ICOMOS contributed to the preservation of affected cultural property in tsunami affected areas. The Minister said cultural heritage forms part of identity and pride of a nation. Therefore it is our duty to preserve this cultural heritage for the benefit of the present and future generation.

"ICOMOS Sri Lanka is coordinating with universities of Jaffna, Kelaniya, Sri Jayewardanepura, Moratuwa, Peradeniya and Eastern University to working together in this documentation and conservation project he said.

The Minister thanked the University Grants Commission for providing funding required to reimburse the cost of documentation carried out by the universities.

Further ICOMOS Sri Lanka got foreign experts and academics specially from Japan and always supported him in difficulties he said.

He stressed steps be taken to preserve these monuments that provided cultural identity to the affected coastal region. Conservation of cultural monuments is a specialised field and therefore, the members of ICOMOS Sri Lanka and government institutions can work with foreign experts and institutions to achieve results, he added.

Natural disasters are not confined only to tsunami but there are also floods, cyclones, earth slips, fire etc. Therefore disaster mitigation of cultural property needs to be well thought out and planned .Cultural property should be saved not only from natural disasters but also from man made disasters, he noted.

The Minister praised the ICOMOS Sri Lanka for the good work done.

Prof. Dr. Kenichiro Hidaka, Chair of World Heritage Studies in Master’s programme, University of Tsukuba, Japan said post tsunami recovery process in Sri Lanka is remarkably energetic and fast but on the other hand with this rapid process of recovery, sometimes buildings of historical value may be threatened. Therefore action should be taken to preserve these cultural monuments," he said.

"We Japanese are surprised at the rich history of the south coast The tsunami has given an opportunity for us to discover the jewels in the south of Sri Lanka. He stressed the rapid recovery may eliminate many objects and sites of cultural importance and it may be called the post tsunami disaster.