KARACHI, May 13: A spokesman for the ministry of minorities, culture, sports, tourism and youth affairs has said that the department of archaeology and museums is a federal department, which was supposed to be located in Islamabad like other federal departments/ offices, says a press release issued by the Press Information Department on Monday.

“For practical difficulties, this could not be undertaken for the last 30 years or so. The location of the headquarters away from the capital has been causing avoidable difficulties and expenditure because it entailed frequent travels of the officials of the archaeology department to Islamabad.”

He added that the government had, therefore, decided to shift the department’s offices to Taxila near Islamabad and in certain cases to Lahore Fort. “This is a temporary measure to facilitate the location of these offices at Islamabad where a national museum is being planned.”

He said: “As regards moving of the library and artefacts from Karachi, it is clarified that the library is meant for official use of the concerned department officials for professional purposes. Its shifting to the location near Islamabad will not affect the ability of people elsewhere to do research.”

He said the concern about the shifting of antiquities from the National Museum, Karachi, to Lahore Fort is incorrect, as no such decision has been taken.