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| Tuesday, 11 January 2005 |
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by Nadira Gunatilleke UNESCO will provide US $100,000 for the restoration of all destroyed libraries in the tsunami affected countries in the South Asian region. This is part of the funds allocated to the affected countries by UNESCO at the beginning of this year and more funds will be allocated soon, Adviser for Communication and Information in Asia, UNESCO Dr. Susanne Ornager said. Addressing the media at the National Library and Documentation Centre yesterday she said that since Sri Lanka is the second badly affected country in the region more funds will be allocated to Sri Lanka in order to re-build libraries and develop a modern library network in the country. Ornager stressed the importance of publicising the method of using aid in order to keep donors and the relevant persons informed. This can be done through web sites as the World Bank Head pointed out recently and it will be more transparent if recipients can inform the donors and the world how they use aid effectively. Cultural Affairs and National Heritage Minister Vijitha Herath thanked UNESCO for the assistance and said that Sri Lanka is the first tsunami hit country that commenced rehabilitation of libraries and related institutes. At the moment the National Archives Department provides consultation and technology to preserve destroyed books, magazines and other documents. The Cultural Affairs and National Heritage Ministry will soon submit a complete report on the full damage to the UNESCO soon." A large number of donors have expressed their willingness to donate English books to Sri Lanka but they are of little use to a larger segment of people. Therefore the Ministry has focused its attention in obtaining more financial aid to buy Sinhala books". Minister Herath said steps will be taken to put up a tsunami museum and requested the public to collect tsunami souvenirs and memorabilia to be housed in this museum. He also said that a special film on the tsunami disaster and how Sri Lanka withstood all odds as one nation will be made. The script for this film has already been accepted by the National Film Corporation. Several libraries including 177 school libraries, 68 libraries attached to religious institutions and 53 public libraries had been damaged in the tsunami. Assessments will be done shortly on the damages to children's libraries, community libraries, private and personal libraries. National Library and Documentation Centre Chairman W.A.Abeysinghe, Director, Upali Amarasinghe and several others were present. |
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