KARACHI, Nov 5: Various programmes will be held in cities and towns in the interior of Sindh to highlight the rich cultural and architectural heritage of the province.

The programmes will begin in January next year and continue throughout the year.

This was announced at the Karavan Karachi Acknowledgement Ceremony, organized by the Heritage Walley, here at the Governor’s House on Monday evening.

Sindh Governor Mohammedmian Soomro said when the Karavan Karachi was launched at the Governor’s House in February nobody knew that its streetfests would attract such a large number of people, and the Karavan would be such a success.

He said the Karavan had been a successful attempt at making the people of Karachi aware of their rich cultural and architectural heritage, so now they would be able to protect this heritage in a better way. He supported the idea that the year 2002 should be observed as the Karavan Karachi Year of Sindh Heritage.

Supporting the idea of establishment of a Heritage Fund, he said there were more than 600 buildings which had been declared protected under the Sindh Cultural Heritage Protection Act, and money was needed for their maintenance and upkeep.

He urged philanthropists to come forward and donate generously to that fund so that the architectural heritage of the city could be saved for posterity. He said the government was facing financial constraints, but it would try to contribute to its level best.

He said the Heritage Foundation, with the help of its streetfests, was able to highlight the importance of historically and architecturally important buildings in the city that otherwise were not given their due importance either by the public or the government.

Earlier, the Heritage Foundation chief, Yasmin Lari, said about 23 streetfest had been held in front of historically important buildings in the past seven months. She said all the functions were held in streets which enabled people to participate in large numbers and understand the importance of the heritage.

She said the signature roll, which was kept at all the streetfests and the participants were requested to sign it, had become more than 5,000 feet long which proved the success of the streetfests.

She said though she wanted that people of all ages attended streetfests, she particularly wanted that children should participate in large numbers so that they could know the importance of the heritage and tried to save it.

She also suggested that the government formulated some strategy to give relief to the owners of the protected buildings so that they could wholeheartedly protected these structures.

She said after the success of the Karavan the Heritage Foundation would organize one such streetfest every month during the next year in Karachi. It also planned to organize such streetfests in other towns including Thatta, Larkana and Shikarpur.

More than 3,500 schoolchildren participated in the function on Monday.