THT-Finance Minister Hon. Dr Saad Ali Shire commended Dr Sada Mire and Horn Heritage for their work. He said that he was not a student of archeology but acknowledged that its importance was monumental.
“When we are speaking of protecting Somaliland Heritage and Archeological history the first question that come to our mind is what’s archeology” posed the minister and added, “I can summarize them as ancient utensils, equipment, construction works and structures, writings, pictures, graveyards etc.”.
He said that why all those need protection and conserving? On the history side, denotes every item is part of our history and valuable. They tell us how former generations were lived, self-ruled, traded, and fought. Then that history belongs our country & we need to learn and protect.
The other thing is the preciousness that makes them valuable. There are many countries whose Income comes from cultural tourism. Egypt for instance has every year millions of tourists visit the Pyramids. Similarly countless tourists visit Italy for past Roman history, so as Greece, people visit to see their past history. There are many countries who earn income from their cultural heritage.
Dr Sa’d said Somaliland has abundant archeology heritage but are not able to earn income. There is need to protect them and market. All tourists visiting our country like others can bring income home, from entry fees, hotels, rented cars, food, purchasing.
Lastly for such tourism to be feasible there should be regulating laws put in place such that the department concerned is empowered. By thus, education on the matter is imperative at tertiary levels. We need to earmark all of our heritage and archeological sites and appoint guarding personnel to prevent them termination, as they are valuable sites.
By Mohamoud Walaaleeye