Cash starved Heritage Malta running as a business firm

Heritage Malta has covered quite a lot of ground since it was set up in January last year, according to its chief executive officer, Antoinette Caruana.

For a start, it has managed, despite its tight budget, to set up a professional management structure to enable it to run as a business firm, she noted.

Heritage Malta is the first government agency to give up its half-days in summer and as a result has been able for the first time ever to keep open the museums and sites seven days a week, 52 weeks a year.

The agency receives an annual subvention from the government of Lm850,000 and is this year planning to net about Lm900,000 from entry fees to museums and other venues. The salary bill for its 240 employees tops Lm1.5 million.

This leaves over only a basic amount for the general recurrent cost and does not cover the plans Heritage Malta has in mind, including the employment of additional staff in core positions and administrative as well as clerical grades.

Although Heritage Malta has the full backing of the government and the opposition, the agency is embarking on a series of measures to raise money to help it improve the sites and to rope in the services of volunteers to help it run the numerous cultural landmarks on the islands.

Heritage Malta is currently looking into the possibility of setting up a volunteers cooperative.

One way in which Heritage Malta will be enhancing its income is by raising entry fees to museums and other historical treasures, doubling the current charge as from today. This mean the Lm1 fee will become Lm2 and the levy for students and senior citizens will rise from 50c to Lm1.

Also, the group day ticket with which a visitor could tour several sites is being replaced by a ticket per person for each site.

"It is important to take on board all stakeholders, including the public and visitors and explain to them our vision and our strategy and what the challenges are.

"Since Heritage Malta was set up, the agency took over not only the country's patrimony but also the Museums Department, which by that time marked its 100th anniversary.

"The challenge for Heritage Malta was to bring about a complete change in the mindset of its staff and in its structure," Ms Caruana said.

When Heritage Malta took over the Museums Department - and because that was the way things stood - the department had only a number of curators, a handful of clerks but no more.

"Heritage Malta has a professional and motivated team of curators and managers, plus a manager for Gozo sites and a manager each for finance and corporate services, for public programmes, for business development, for projects and maintenance and for human resources."

"Heritage Malta has built a healthy working relationship with the Federation of Associations of Travel Tourism Agents.

"One has to acknowledge the fact that the country's heritage is disproportionate to its size and to the availability of resources. Heritage is a vital foreign exchange earner but is still underestimated."

Another decision that Heritage Malta has made together with the government is to halt the free entry to museums and sites on the last Sunday of every month. Yesterday was the last such free Sunday.

"This has been a very difficult decision to make but for Heritage Malta the raising of funds is one of the major priorities in order to be able to take better care of the national patrimony.

"Other fund raising sources in the pipeline are individual and family membership as well as a corporate patrons programme.

"Heritage Malta wants to raise awareness about the importance of investing in cultural heritage.

"Through its business development arm, Heritage Malta will be running several museum shops in the next few weeks. This will give visitors a more complete experience apart from being a revenue earner," Ms Caruana explained.