President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has decided to designate the 12th of September annually as National Heritage Day. The President made this decision following discussions with his Cabinet on a paper presented during Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting.

The paper, presented by the Minister of Arts, Culture and Heritage, highlighted the lack of a comprehensive legislative framework as one of the most significant problems encountered by former efforts at the national and international levels to protect and preserve heritage sites and artefacts.

The Minister further stated that it is best to establish September 12th as National Heritage Day, as on September 12, 2019, this administration ratified the Cultural Heritage Act No. 12/2019 (Maldives Cultural Heritage Act) to ensure the documentation, preservation and protection of Maldivian Cultural Heritage.

The paper also stated that proclaiming a national heritage day is a crucial step in ensuring that the heritage inherited by our forbearers gets passed on to future generations.