The National Monuments Council (NMC), the Chilean body responsible for heritage, is claiming 300 million pesos ($570,000) from the hosts of the Dakar Rally, the National Sports Institute (IND), for damage caused to archaeological sites by the passage of the rally in January 2010.
The NMC has documented damage caused, in varying degrees, at 56 of 111 heritage sites visited during the rally.
Four sites in particular have suffered 50% or more damage. NMC secretary Oscar Acuna has said he wants “compensation to be paid for the damage to heritage sites, in the same way as was done for the previous rally.” Previous compensation amounts have not been detailed.
Mr Acuna also recommended that archeological sites at risk are taken into account when organizers prepare the course for the 2011 Dakar Rally.
The 2010 Dakar Rally, which took place in Argentina and Chile, saw more than 370 vehicles travel through Chile, about 4050 km in the desert to the north of the country. The 2011 Dakar Rally will take place in the same two countries for the third consecutive year.
