A Heritage Bill to assemble a Maldivian  heritage registry has been proposed to Parliament.

The Ministry of Arts, Culture and Heritage has informed that the Bill has been proposed as part of fulfilling one of the 100 day campaign pledges of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. As such, a pledge was made to assemble a registry of heritage sites, history and traditional artifacts of local islands. The Bill has been proven to Parliament in an effort to ensure that a registry is established and to implement a law makes it compulsory to preserve and protect heritage. This Bill would also make certain that rules will be set to maintain the heritage.

The Ministry of Arts, Culture and Heritage has also said that a temporary registry has been assembled and published in the gazette.

The Bill, once passed through Parliament and ratified by the President will work to systematically preserve the country’s history and heritage. The Ministry noted that this Bill would be a step forward in the progress of efforts to protect and preservation local heritage sites.

The heritage registry has been reportedly prepared with the collaboration of local councils, experts and individual citizens. The Ministry has said also that the opportunity to provide public feedback on the information vetted and published on history and heritage will always be open through the Ministry’s website.