The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage was set up three years ago to protect our cultural heritage and ensure its accessibility. The Cultural Heritage Act 2002 sets out 10 core functions of the Superintendence:

¤ Compiling national heritage databases, national inventory of cultural heritage assets, museums and sites, the storage of artifacts and archiving of documents and provides information to the public;

¤ Carrying out heritage site evaluations, providing advice on scheduling of buildings and sites, participating in planning development issues;

¤ Monitoring and auditing museums and sites;

¤ Inspecting building sites to safeguard our heritage, enforcing the Cultural Heritage Act and prosecuting offenders;

¤ Ensuring that heritage objects do not leave our country unauthorised, and so responsible for stopping the illegal trade of heritage items;

¤ Carrying out fieldwork, excavating and documenting all national heritage on land and underwater;

¤ Taking an active part in international heritage programmes such as those run by UNESCO, the Council of Europe and the European Union;

¤ Taking public education initiatives about our heritage involving the media, schools, local councils and non-government organisations;

¤ Producing a yearly State of the Heritage Report;

¤ Providing advice to Government on heritage matters, strategic policies, standards guidelines and regulations;

How can the Superintendence carry out all these core functions if it has not been given adequate human and financial resources? Government hailed the 2005 Budget as a 'Heritage Budget', yet this year it cut the budget of the Superintendence by more than 11 per cent from Lm145,794 to Lm130,000.

Martin Scicluna, executive president of Din l-Art Helwa, was right to remark on February 26, when he addressed the annual general meeting that "the Superintendent - who is the regulator and guardian of our cultural heritage - is grossly under-resourced both in funding and manpower. A position made worse in this year's budget estimates. If the government were serious about safeguarding our cultural heritage - truly defending it - the Superintendent would be strengthened not weakened."

A hollow shell

The Superintendence has only 40 per cent of the manpower it needs to operate at a minimum level. It needs a Superintendent and 26 personnel. Yet the Superintendent has only a staff of 10 to carry out the obligations laid upon him by the Cultural Heritage Act 2002.

Although the Cultural Heritage Act of 2002 defines a central and strategic role for the Superintendence to safeguard our heritage, it is being starved of the necessary funds and persons to enable it to carry out its core functions. As it has low public visibility, Government feels that it can getaway with spending only Lm130,000 on it this year.

Whatever the budget constraints Government has, after throwing away millions of liri when for many years it ran the country with a 'money no problem' mentality, we must consider public spending on heritage a priority for many reasons. For many years we have neglected our heritage and if we continue to do so we will have very little to pass on to future generations.

We must find the necessary money to spend more on our heritage; both for ourselves and for the thousands of persons we hope will visit Malta to discover its heritage and its people.

Without proper human and financial resources the Superintendence does not have the necessary people to monitor building developments that are still putting our heritage at risk where people hastily destroy and bury parts of our heritage that they find when digging and excavating building sites.

It cannot keep track of what is happening to our underwater cultural heritage as divers continue to strip us of what we have left in the sea around us. It cannot monitor the export of cultural objects to other European Union member states and many heritage objects continue to leave these islands illegally.

It is simply wrong to pass a good law in Parliament to protect and promote our heritage, set up the required structures but then starve them of the necessary personnel and money so they survive as hollow shells without being able to operate effectively.

evaristbartolo@hotmail.com