Herat’s department of information and culture says a joint team has been created in order to assess monuments and historical sites in this province.

The department said that the joint team will first assess all the historical sites and then that their restoration is supposed to begin soon.

“Inshallah, rain and snow have been prevented from entering inside towers, and also a team has been formed to assess historical sites,” said Raqibullah Rizwani, head of preservation department of historical monuments in Herat.

As a result of the recent earthquakes in Herat, many historical sites sustained damage and some of them such as Great Mosque, Minarets and Akhtaruddin Castle faced financial losses.

Cultural experts meanwhile believe if damaged monuments are not repaired soon, they could sustain further damage through winter.

“Every historical monument should be restored and renovated every year, when we did not see enough allocation in twenty years and recently the earthquake really caused damages, I definitely think that if we do not pay attention, we will suffer damages that will not be compensated,” said Wali Shah Bahra, a cultural expert.

In addition, no donor organization has shown interest in the restoration and reconstruction of historical monuments. Herat’s Directorate for the Preservation of Historical Monuments has only been able to prevent the destruction of most of the damaged parts with basic facilities.

“We have many foreign and domestic tourists who come to Herat and visit these tourist places, so it is necessary that global attention and in general international organizations that work in the field of preserving cultural heritage should be made,” said Wahid Ahmad Sultani, a professional member of Herat’s historical monuments preservation authority.

Herat has about 870 monuments and historical sites, many of which are damaged as a result of the recent earthquakes.