Srilanka, Dec. 7 -- The Department of National Archives has issued an urgent appeal for freezer facilities to protect the thousands of public records damaged in recent floods across Sri Lanka.

In an official notice, the Department said that hundreds of cubic metres of invaluable documents including Court records, deeds, land registries, financial files, and personnel records are at risk of permanent destruction due to mould if immediate freezing is not carried out. Freezing is a critical emergency measure to halt further deterioration until proper conservation treatment can be implemented.

Without this step, the Department cautioned, the country could face the loss of essential records affecting legal ownership, citizenship, pensions, a...