Aynak cooperation agreement signed between ministries

KABUL (PAN): The Ministry of Information and Culture and the Ministry of Mines agreed on Tuesday to protect cultural relics at the Aynak copper mine.

Aynak, in the central province of Logar, is one of the biggest copper sources in the world, with an estimated $43 billion worth of copper deposits.

The China Metallurgical Group signed a contract two years ago giving it the rights to extract the copper. Under the agreement, the Chinese company would invest $5 billion and the Afghan government would receive $300 million in revenue each year.

Over the past year, however, several Buddhist statues and other relics have been discovered and transferred to Kabul, causing some concern that the excavation will damage the remnants of an ancient civilisation.

On Tuesday, the ministries of mine and culture and information signed a contract to ensure that no historical items would be affected or damaged during the excavation.

Those which are very big, such as the sleeping Buddha, would remain untouched, a statement from the two ministries said. Others will be taken to Kabul for preservation, it said.

A museum will also be built in Logar for the protection of discovered monuments, the statement said, without providing any details of historical items discovered so far.

The ministries of information and culture and mines want to speed up the archaeology dig in the area before extraction of copper starts, the statement said.

The statement quotes the minister of information and culture, Sayed Makhdoum Raheen, as saying he is pleased about the coordination of the two ministries and believes this will help to preserve Afghanistan’s history.

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