"We held a meeting with UNESCO experts, where Angola was praised for the way it responded to the recommendations of that United Nations body. The experts said that we are on the right track. They liked the work done so far," said Pedro Makita, president of the Participatory Management Committee of the historic center, quoted by Jornal de Angola.
Pedro Makita revealed that despite the pandemic and the financial problems, the country managed to fulfill six of the seven recommendations left by UNESCO.
The list of recommendations included the removal of antennas from the historic center, the deactivation of the current runway of Mbanza Kongo airport, the confirmation of the functioning of the transversal management system, the approval of the urban plan regulation, the elaboration of the tourism management strategy and the elaboration of precise indicators based on the exceptional universal value.
The only recommendation that has not yet been met concerns the deactivation of the airport's runway, which, whenever there are flights, has a negative impact on the heritage.
However, the Secretary of State for Culture, Maria da Piedade de Jesus, explained that the land to build the new airport has already been cleared of mines and that work is in progress, however, it will not be possible to deactivate the current airport until the new one is completed.
Biluka Nsakala Nsenga, coordinator of the historic center, indicated that cleaning work is regularly done on monuments and historic sites.
As for the traces collected in the archaeological excavations, he explained that they are kept in a safe place while waiting for the approval of the construction of the new Museum of the Kingdom of Kongo: "The new Museum of the Kingdom of Kongo will reflect the culture of the region, that is, all the countries that were part of this Kingdom, namely Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo Brazzaville and Gabon".
