ADDIS ABABA- Cultural Heritage Management Inventory System (CHMS) aimed at preventing illicit heritage trafficking and making profiles of heritages accessible to visitors will soon be launched, said Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage.
FentaBeyene, Authority’s Communication and Public Relations Director told this reporter that the system will reduce illegal heritagetrafficking as it facilitates the modernmanagement of the national asset.
Visitors can get descriptions of heritages online which in turn motivate tourists’ inflow, according to him. In addition, the Authority has been working in concert withCustoms and Revenue Offices, Police force, and other stockholders to combat illegal traffickers, he said.
Mentioning that Ethiopia’s heritages were illegally taken abroadat various times, he said diplomatic works are underway to bring most of them back to their origins.“The kind and number of the looted heritages are still unknown.” Also, AberaAnjulo,Cultural Heritage Inspection and Standardization Expert with the Authority, saidheritage inventory tasksare being carried out by assigning codes to each and every artifact to counter trafficking.
“Last year, we confiscated over 200 heritages from illicit traffickersbut we failed to locate the origins of the heritages for they are not registered.” The Authority stated that Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been working ardently to return looted heritages through diplomatic
means.
The Ethiopian Herald, December 28/2018
BY YESUF ENDRIS
