Heritage Malta to manage heritage sites, museums

In a drive to manage the island's heritage sites and museums in a sustainable manner, the government yesterday launched Heritage Malta, the new government organisation which will take over from the museums department.

Heritage Malta's immediate task is to draft a strategic plan which will, among others, define the optimum structure for the new organisation and guide the migration of key tasks and personnel from the museums department to Heritage Malta and to the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage.

"The concept of managing museums and our cultural heritage is about to change. Practices will change, and it is high time that we tap into what could in reality be an untapped goldmine," Culture Minister Louis Galea said during a news conference.

Last Saturday, the government said it had appointed Anthony Pace as Malta's first Superintendent of Cultural Heritage under the new Cultural Heritage Law.

The Cultural Heritage Act 2002 gives a wide definition of heritage to encompass material heritage, archaeology, fine arts, anthropology and various aspects of the island's intangible culture.

The Act separates the management and marketing of heritage sites and museums from their conservation and superintendence.

Heritage Malta will be governed by a board of directors, headed by chairman Alex Grech, and eight board members.

A full-time chief executive officer will be appointed in the coming months to take over the day-to-day management of the organisation.

Dr Galea said the next four months represented an interim period during which Heritage Malta would build up some core competencies.

For the time being, the day-to-day running of museums and cultural heritage sites would remain within the jurisdiction of the museums department, which will be phased out in the future.

Dr Galea expressed optimism that the new team would inject energy into the cultural sector.

He said trade unions had already been approached over the future role of the 200 workers, but stressed that nobody would lose their job as a result of the switch.

However, work practices would have to be changed. It was pointless drawing up business ideas and building new structures if archaic structures remained in place, he said.

Dr Galea said the members of the Heritage Malta Board had been appointed on the basis of their proven track record in heritage conservation and management.

"There is a healthy mix of people with NGO experience, experts in specific heritage sectors and change managers. This brings great talent and energy to Heritage Malta," Dr Galea said.

Mr Grech said the agency had a number of challenges, one of which was the development of public-private sector partnerships.

Mr Grech, who had headed the operational review of the museums department, said that Heritage Malta would do its utmost to beef up security at historical sites and to secure improved funding for the heritage sector.

Heritage Malta, he said, intended to build alliances with entities such as the Malta Tourism Authority to reposition heritage at the hub of cultural tourism.

The process to get to the "milestone" set-up had taken a long time to materialise, Mr Grech said. However, there seemed to be consensus among the political parties that such a change was needed.

Speaking on a general note, Mr Grech said it was unfortunate that it took the vandalism at Mnajdra to raise awareness among the public.

Sadly, the public often turned a blind eye to certain improvements in the last years, citing in particular the reopening of the Hypogeum.

The other members of Heritage Malta are Simone Mizzi (deputy chairman), Mgr Gwann Azzopardi, Ray Bondin, Mario Farrugia, Joe Schiro, Katya Stroud, Godwin Vella and Leslie Vella.