Gorée, January 17 (APS) – The Secretary of State for Culture, Creative Industries and Historical Heritage, Bakary Sarr, underlined, Friday, the urgency of taking precautionary measures to save the island of Gorée, classified UNESCO World Heritage since 1978, and today threatened by coastal erosion and the dilapidation of historic buildings.
»We have just visited the sites, a number of historical places, places of memory, as well as part of the coastline. And the observation is that today it is urgent to take precautionary measures to save the island,” he declared.
Mr. Sarr spoke thus at the end of a working visit to the island of Gorée, where, among other historic places, he visited, successively, the palace of the governor of Gorée built in 1964, at the old building of Sister Anne Marie Javeh. He ended his trip at the Boubacar Joseph Ndiaye cultural center, where he had a closed-door meeting with the municipal team and several island officials.
This visit, he said, “is part of the policy of rehabilitation and promotion of historical heritage defined by the Head of State who gave clear instructions by asking the State Secretariat, precisely, to carry out the inventory, islands like Gorée, Carabane and other historical sites, places of memory, in order to evaluate what needs to be done for the conservation, the preservation of these places of memory.
“We therefore wanted to follow up on these directives, to diagnose with those concerned the special character of these places, the sensitivity and the fact that it is both a cultural and natural site, living and dynamic,” he said. added.
According to the Secretary of State for Culture, Creative Industries and Historical Heritage, “for what the island represents in memories, in past memories as well as in hot memories (…), and also at the level of the diaspora, there is therefore reason to take measures.”
-However, Bakary Sarr is of the opinion that these measures must be multi-sectoral, to take into consideration all aspects linked to history, environment, culture, economy, tourism and to the living environment of the islanders.
“So we wanted to come and take stock of the situation, look, see and naturally what will follow are decisions to act quickly,” he promised, addressing the municipal team.
»We live in an area where there are very old buildings. We live in a territory where people must live decently. So, the fact that there are buildings which still belong to the State on the island and on which we cannot carry out rehabilitation work to allow our populations to have a decent habitat deeply bothers us. for her part noted the deputy mayor, Pine Henriette Faye, while welcoming the inclusive approach of the State Secretariat.
The director of heritage, Oumar Badiane, declares that “the built heritage, the historical heritage has almost been very affected for years by the environment, by time”. He considers that “there is also reason to take urgent measures for better development of this site from the point of view of tourism, infrastructure, and also all the socio-economic and cultural activities which are inside” .
According to him, the State must set up “a dedicated fund for rehabilitation and support families in the maintenance of their homes which are classified”.
