Floods submerge vital records: Archives appeals for nationwide freezer support

The Department of National Archives yesterday made an urgent public appeal for access to freezer facilities as Sri Lanka faces an unprecedented crisis caused by severe flooding that has damaged vast quantities of vital public records.   According to the department, hundreds of cubic metres of irreplaceable documents—including court records, land registries, personnel files, financial records, and historical material—have been inundated and are now at imminent risk of destruction due to mould.  The Department warned that water-damaged documents must be frozen immediately to halt mould growth and stabilise the materials until conservation treatments can be carried out.

Without urgent freezing capacity, the National Archives fears that essential legal and administrative records required by millions of citizens to rebuild their lives may be permanently lost.   Director General of National Archives Dr. Nadeera Rupesinghe has appealed to the business community, logistics providers, supermarkets, cold-storage warehouse operators, and any organisations with freezer capacity to provide temporary space—ranging from weeks to months—at no cost. In return, the National Archives says it will provide full documentation suitable for CSR reporting and national recognition for contributing partners.  

“These are not abstract historical records,” the department stressed. “These are the records our citizens need to prove who they are, what they own, and what they are owed.”   Institutions urgently require freezer facilities large enough to hold bound volumes and bundled records in bulk quantities. Mobile freezer units are also in high demand.   Organisations with available freezer space are urged to contact Anuradha Adikaram, Senior Archivist, via 077 6815551 (Available 24 hours).