Opposition spokesman Evarist Bartolo on Monday called on the government to legislate and transfer the governance of the regulatory institutions from the executive to the Office of the President.

Mr Bartolo was speaking during the debate on the 2009 estimates of the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage.

Opening the debate, Minister Dolores Cristina said people were growing more conscious of local heritage, but many were unaware of the central role of the superintendence to put cultural heritage under scrutiny, preserve it and make it more accessible to the people.

It had to be strengthened and have a framework, to give it more power. It had new, larger premises in Valletta and worked hand in hand with local councils and other entities.

An agreement between the superintendence and Wirt Artna for a heritage park in the Upper Barrakka gardens was an example, although this was not the only NGO working to preserve the cultural heritage. There were other guardianship deeds, such as the agreement to make a focal point of the wartime shelter in the Tarxien area.

The superintendence also worked with the police force, Mepa and ADT. There had been over 753 cases of consultation with Mepa in 2007, and more than 70 cases in 2008. The minister said the superintendence was equipped with experts and it would pay if authorities took more notice of their feedback.

Turning to Heritage Malta, Mrs Cristina said the new board, appointed last August, had analysed the situation and prepared a three-year work programme. It needed to be strong and not lacking in resources, in order to face present challenges.

In 2003 Heritage Malta had inherited the management of around 50 cultural assets, the majority in dire need of care and attention, some neglected for whole centuries. The status report made it clear that there had to be long-term investment, as this was an invaluable contributor to economic development.

Minister Cristina said she was pleased to see increased acknowledgement of the need for a heavy injection of funds into the sector. It could not make do simply with the budgetary allocation so far. In the estimates for 2008, the government allocation had been reduced by some €1 million, and this made for an imbalance. But throughout the year the allocation had already increased by €0.5 million, and there would be more financial aid.

According to the estimates, the agency should balance income and expenditure, despite fewer tourists because of the economic recession. It was estimating a 15 per cent reduction in revenue due to fewer visitors.

Labour spokesman on education Evarist Bartolo criticised the government for the meagre budget allocated to the superintendence at a time when it needed more human, financial and physical resources to function well as a regulatory authority. Since its inception the government had always decreased its budget.

Work on the cultural heritage inventory system which was supposed to have started 29 months ago had fallen behind due to lack of resources.

Mr Bartolo said there was a heavy imbalance between the superintendence and Mepa. The annual report was very timid, descriptive and lacked serious analysis and evaluation. The superintendence did not carry enough weight against Mepa to safeguard the cultural and historical heritage when one considered the building permits issued in certain areas.

Mr Bartolo said the superintendence needed to be more proactive. It also needed more resources to schedule more heritage sites in Malta and Gozo at a time when awareness increased but also when there were more aggressive attacks on the local heritage.

He referred to the plans for temporary shelters at the Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra temples, adding that the first plan had been discarded because it would have caused irreversible damage to this archaeological site. The superintendence was not yet satisfied with the redesigning of the plans.

Mr Bartolo said Mepa had committed an obscene act when it ignored the superintendence's recommendation not to allow construction near the Ta' Ħaġrat temples at Mġarr. Funds for land expropriation near the temples to safeguard any physical damage had been made available in 2009. Was the superintendence satisfied with this measure?

Another function which the superintendence had to perform was the protection of troglodyte caves in the island's valleys. Not enough protection was provided, with the risk that this heritage might be lost forever.

Mr Bartolo referred to the Mdina bastions which were in a precarious state. Concrete action had to be taken to safeguard this heritage.

He said that having only one person to monitor the export of local treasures and heritage items was not enough. He asked the government to state its position regarding treasures stolen from Malta by the French and the British. Malta should try to recover as much as possible from this stolen treasure, now that Malta formed part of one big European family.

Mr Bartolo criticised the Ministry of Finance for not exempting the superintendence from paying tax.

Dr Owen Bonnici (PL) said that while the agency tried to generate more revenue, the deficit could only be reduced with more governmental assistance.

This was in sharp contrast with what Minister Cristina said that Heritage Malta needed to increase its revenue to be self-sufficient with no government subvention. The entity's revenue came from local entrepreneurs and the EU, and he said more efforts should be made to attract more EU funds.

Lack of financial resources was keeping urgent works from being undertaken on the San Pawl Milqi and Salini Catacombs. It was hoped that the cultural sector would not suffer budget cuts.

Dr Bonnici said that there should be a Contemporary Art Museum, preferably in Gozo. He asked whether it was time to enact a law which would help in the management of world heritage sites.

According to government studies, 12.8 per cent of tourists within the EU and 30 per cent of all tourists visited Malta for cultural reasons. Such figures needed to be increased.

Dr Bonnici said €314,000 which had been spent on litigation, and irrecoverable VAT at €105,000, amounted to half of the administrative expenses.

He said that cultural heritage should also be present in the educational system. Students' visits to museums should not be considered as extra-curricular activities.

He noted there were 14 exhibitions which were organised by the department and other organisers and 40 exhibitions which were organised solely by Heritage Malta.

Concluding, Dr Bonnici stressed it was irrelevant to try to improve the cultural sector and Malta's cultural patrimony if the government did not provide adequate funds.

Dr Francis Zammit Dimech (PN) said two landmarks that Heritage Malta had achieved this year were the Ħaġar Qim shelter project and the refurbishment of the War Museum.

The debate on Valletta showed the government's commitment to giving dignity to the capital city and to continuing restoration work in various areas such as St John's Co-Cathedral and the Palace.

Referring to the increase in entrance fees to museums, he said one had to strike a balance between the need to valorise Malta's heritage and taking initiatives to give free entrance to schoolchildren and to the public on certain occasions. Both agencies were committed to making this a reality.

Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono said both the internal and the foreign tourism sectors could benefit from the many and varied exhibitions that were opened on the island. The ministry also worked with other sectors to set up a number of specialised exhibitions of varying interests, which had attracted a lot of attention. One major feature had been the centenary of the birth of Gozitan poet Ġorġ Pisani.

The public response to the Notte Gozitana had been outstanding and encouraged the organisation of other such events in future.

Heritage Malta's made a valid contribution to the restorationof various places of cultural heritage in Gozo, even with EU funds. This included the bastions around the Cittadella.

It was gratifying that Heritage Malta had decided to return to Gozo for permanent exhibition historical artefacts that had originally been discovered on the island, including the Brocktorff Circle at Xagħra.

The government this year had increased from €1 million to €20 million its subvention to the two band clubs of Victoria for the organisation of opera.

Winding up the debate, Culture Minister Dolores Cristina said that, predictably, the debate had covered the full range of prehistoric to modern culture. She was happy to be on the same wavelength as Mr Bartolo on the understaffing of the superintendence of cultural heritage.

Her long-term plan for financing all cultural needs with €40-50 million was just the tip of the iceberg, but of course it would not be an annual budget.

She agreed with the need of a museum of contemporary art, but the problem was that everybody wanted museums in Valletta, which was limiting. It was important to look at alternative sites, including Fort St Elmo which had great potential.

Upgrading was needed in all Valletta theatres. The upgrading of the Manoel Theatre's backstage was close to completion.

Paying tribute to the refurbishment of the War Museum, Minister Cristina said it was easy to say the opposition disagreed with any price hike, but a balance must be achieved. She disagreed that museum prices in Malta were much higher than foreign ones, but one must also keep in mind that certain Maltese monuments could not take large numbers of visitors but still needed huge sums in maintenance.

In 2018, Malta would have the title of European capital of culture. All must help to ensure that cultural heritage must be up to standard. Work needed to be started now because there was a lot to be done.

A working group for a national cultural policy had been formed this year, and a Bill would also establish how voluntary organisations could work hand in hand for best results.

An inter-ministerial committee had also been formed with a view to restoring Fort St Angelo to its former glory.

Concluding, Minister Cristina agreed that it was time to sit down and examine what was happening and what was really wanted with classification, a word she preferred to censorship. She had forwarded a number of suggestions she had received to Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici, who was responsible for setting up the Classification Board.