The Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) on Thursday accused the Archaeological Department of destroying artefacts and urged that they be placed under the purview of the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development.

“The Archaeological Department is not capable of protecting our heritage. There are some corrupt officers in the department. They are giving away clues to treasure hunters. The Defence Ministry should take over the Department,” BBS General Secretary Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera told a news conference while referring to recent media reports about treasure hunters ransacking the tomb of Sugala Devi in Polonnaruwa.

“We went to Siripura in Paludeniya at Polonnaruwa to inspect the area after the media reports. There were items of historical value in the area where a quarry is functioning at present.  There is also a historical temple at one end of the plains,” he said.

He said an initial investigation report carried out by the Archeological Department in 2004 has confirmed that the Paludeniya area was enclosed with artefacts and also the area could be declared as an archeological protected site.

“The present director of the Department, he himself had contributed to the initial report in 2004 as the deputy director. Today he is rejecting that there is no archeological value in the area. Either he should resign if can’t fulfill his duty or we request us to handover the department,” the Thera said.

He also suggested the Department should take action to display artefacts uncovered in the department excavations without keeping them in store rooms.
He said the department should not let archeological sites to turn into quarries in disguise of development projects.

“The department will start giving permission to mine the stone of Sigiriya if it continues to act like this,” he said.(Lahiru Pothmulla)