By Kodjo Adams
Accra, Sept. 7, GNA – Professor Wazi Apoh, Dean, School of Arts, Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, University of Ghana, has called for the enactment of a Heritage Impact Assessment law to make archaeology exploration at earth moving sites mandatory.
The law, he stated, would enable well-trained graduate students to team up to form archaeological firms to bid for mandatory impact assessment projects to be paid by developers, thereby solving the graduates’ unemployment situation in the country.
The law, he stressed, would increase the number of students interested in studying archaeology at the University of Ghana.
Prof Apoh made the call on Wednesday at the opening ceremony of an exhibition on ” Salvage Archaeology and the Marine Drive (MD) Heritage of Osu.”
The exhibition in the Museum Archaeology of the University displayed tangible visuals of the salvaged materials from the MD site and how they provided windows into reconstructing past life ways of the inhabitants on the old Osu sites in the Christiansborg area.
The endangered cultural artifacts, ecofacts and biofacts will be preserved and conserved for posterity.
The exhibition, which is opened from September 7 to October 30, 2022, is organised by the School of Arts and Museum of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, University of Ghana, legon.
He said there was no law that mandated earth moving companies to employ the services of archaeology firms to conduct a survey in areas of impact assessment before dams, airports, real estates, highways or railways were built in the country.
The absence of such a law, he explained, made it easy for earth moving companies to destroy the country’s heritage with impunity.
Salvage archaeology is a technique used by archaeologists to recover cultural remains that are under threat of destruction by earth moving vehicles or natural disasters like coastal erosion.
On the Marine Project site, Prof Apoh said the initial salvaged works were done by private funding and later on support was attained from the Andrew Mellon Rehure project, which supported the training of PhD students on the project.
In 2021, the Professor said support for the fieldwork came from the Office of the MD Project.
He said one recommendation for the MD project office was to build a magnificent museum at the site to showcase what the University had salvaged and more about the Osu people.
Mr Kingsley Ofosu Ntiamoah, the Executive Director, Ghana Museums and Monuments Board, said the Board was responsible for managing cultural heritage for the continued education and tourism purposes.
The Board, he said was developing a comprehensive Research Permit Application Guidelines to ensure consistent and effective stewardship.
The MD is a flagship project initiated in the 1960s by the late Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
It entails the development of the beachfront from the western environs of the Christiansborg Castle, through the back of the Asomdwe Park and the Black Star Square all the way to the Arts Centre area.
GNA