President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has decided to designate the September 12 annually as National Heritage Day. He made the decision following discussions on a paper presented during a Cabinet meeting.
The paper was presented to the Cabinet by the Minister of Arts, Culture and Heritage Yumna Maumoon. It 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.
During the meeting, Minister Yumna stated that it is best to establish September 12 as National Heritage Day, as the administration ratified the Maldives Cultural Heritage Act on September 12, 2019 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 forbearers gets passed on to future generations.