The Superintendence of cultural heritage is facing a mountain of work with a staff level which is no bigger than a football team, Labour MP Evarist Bartolo complained in Parliament yesterday. He said staff levels were a third of what official reports showed they should be.

Tourism and Culture Minister Francis Zammit Dimech said this was a football team which was scoring many goals, but it was true that the superintendence needed more people and its structure would be strengthened this year.

The comments were made when the House debated the financial estimates of the superintendence and Heritage Malta, the government agency which manages heritage sites.

Dr Zammit Dimech at the opening of the debate said there was a growing awareness in Malta and abroad of the treasure trove which Malta had in its cultural heritage.

He said the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage and Heritage Malta deserved the nation's praise for their good work and the commitment and dedication which their staff were showing. (His comments were echoed by members of the opposition).

Reviewing the activities of Heritage Malta, the minister said permits had been issued by Mepa for the construction of large shelters to cover Hagar Qim and Mnajdra temples and an international firm had concluded the designs. A €2 million tender for the construction of the shelters - which will be used for 25 years - would be issued shortly.

The project as a whole, including monitoring of the state of the temples and new presentation facilities, would cost in excess of €3 million and will be completed by 2008. Some of the funds are being made available by the EU.

Dr Zammit Dimech praised Heritage Malta for its work on the Domus Romana, the Hypogeum, the Tarxien Temples, and the National Museum of Arts, which is being extended.

Turning to the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, the minister said it was doing sterling work such as the compilation of an inventory of cultural heritage. It was also holding regular meetings with Mepa on the impact of proposed development on cultural heritage.

The superintendence was also working on the drawing up of a national strategy for cultural heritage.

It was significant that the superintendence was moving its offices to a section of Fort St Angelo, itself a major symbol of Malta's heritage and a prestigious site which was ideal for the holding of conferences and exhibitions.

Dr Zammit Dimech said cultural heritage posed a challenge and an opportunity. Malta needed to preserve its heritage, and the funding and human resources allocated for the purpose were currently at an all-time record, even though more needed to be done. The growing appreciation of Malta's cultural heritage was translating in a growing number of visits to cultural sites.

It was the duty of the country to preserve its heritage for future generations but there was also growing awareness of the "cultural industry", meaning that good management and presentation of cultural heritage would yield economic benefit.

Mr Bartolo referred to the State of the Environment report 2005 which had warned that Malta's landscape was being threatened by development. This was a warning which needed to be heeded before it was too late. Government plans to further extend development zones would certainly not help.

Furthermore, Malta also needed to improve the quality of its buildings. He did not know of any building constructed over the past 50 years or so which would stand out well in the future.

The superintendence, Mepa, the Malta Tourism Authority, the Chamber of Architects and Heritage Malta needed to work together for the environment not to deteriorate.

Mr Bartolo regretted that only 16 per cent of tourists were attracted to Malta by the island's cultural features. The most serious problem was that although Malta had the highest concentration of cultural attractions per mile after Rome, foreigners did not know this. In the majority of cases, the only cultural attractions they visited were Valletta and possibly Rabat and Mosta. Furthermore, while one did not pay to enter St Peter's Basilica, one paid to enter St John's. Ways to solve this matter have to be found.

For a start, the government needed to ensure that Malta's cultural attractions were among the first pages brought up by Internet search engines.

When he spoke on the superintendence, Mr Bartolo said that given its small staff, it would be better for the superintendence to focus its activities on its exclusive roles rather than duplicate work done by others.

One of the consequences of the poor manpower at the superintendence and the appropriate section in Mepa was that buildings which deserved protection were not being scheduled.

Mr Bartolo underlined the need for a strategic plan for the management and care of the national heritage which would also involve the private sector, non-governmental organisations and local councils. Many councils had heritage sites within their boundaries which were not even appreciated by the locals.

Roderick Galdes (MLP) said a lack of manpower and financial resources meant that Malta was not making the best use of what should be its heritage attractions.

The Labour MP underlined the need for better coordination, rather that duplication of work done by organisations involved in the cultural heritage. Perhaps the time had come to merge organisations such as the Valletta and Cottonera Rehabilitation Committees with Heritage Malta so that one could have a clear sense of direction.

He complained that Mepa only had four full-timers assigned to work on the historical environment including law enforcement in this area. A common complaint was that the superintendence was unable to keep up with monitoring of development while Mepa complained it had to wait a long time for replies from the superintendence. So why have two different entities, why not have one to ensure proper law enforcement?

The Labour MP also insisted on better presentation facilities at heritage sites, saying that even at Ggantija, visitors did not find information readily available.

Furthermore, why should Mepa take years to approve visitors' centres. Could the country afford to lose two/three years? This did not make sense, especially when the economy was heavily reliant on tourism.

He also urged the government to encourage and help more students to take up studies in heritage-related subjects.

Mr Galdes welcomed projects such as that at the Domus Romana but queried the time which such projects were taking.

Labour MP Joe Brincat said it made sense that the Heritage Malta CEO was a woman because women knew better how to take care of their families, and in the same way they could take better care of the country's heritage.

Dr Brincat said lessons should be learnt from the controversy, some months ago, which ended with the demolition of an old house in Sliema. There should be clear delineation of responsibilities for the Development Control Commission within Mepa and the superintendence. Did the superintendence have veto powers in such instances as some had claimed? Should such veto powers be considered if they did not exist?

When it came to the cultural heritage, there should clearly be overriding powers to prevent the destruction of important sites, albeit with a Mepa permit.

There was also need for a better definition of what was historical and part of the national heritage. Proper, consistent direction was needed for, say, development in village cores and around the harbours to protect Maltese characteristics. This was an area where the superintendence should have strong powers, if necessary overruling Mepa.

Labour MP Carmelo Abela pointed out that following the amalgamation of the Restoration Centre with Heritage Malta, the centre's employees who stayed on suffered a reduction in their wages.

This showed that the government was itself creating difficulties when it set up so many different entities whose workers enjoyed different working conditions.

Despite the amalgamation, an us and them mentality between the centre's former employees and those of Heritage Malta had persisted. Workers of the Centre were still awaiting direction from Heritage Malta.

He asked why all courses were now being organised by Misco.

Mr Abela concluded that there should be more collaboration between Heritage Malta, the University and Mcast.

Winding up, Dr Zammit Dimech said that a Strategic Plan was being drawn up along with a report on the state of the cultural heritage.

Referring to the fact that very few recent buildings could be considered future heritage, Dr Zammit Dimech appealed to architects in general and their clients to consider their sense of duty to leave something of worth to the country. Architects, he said, had a problem in that their clients wanted them to use every square inch of land available to their maximum benefit at the lowest possible cost.

On the fact that only 16 per cent of tourists came to the country for cultural purposes, the minister said it was hoped this percentage would grow, as, indeed, it had grown over the past few years. It was important to have an interface between sun and sea leisure and cultural attractions.

More attempts would be made to promote Malta's cultural attractions, but he did not agree that entry to all sites should be free - that could even be seen as devaluing the product.

Referring to comments by Mr Galdes that stronger law enforcement was needed, Dr Zammit Dimech said the superintendence carried out regular and numerous enforcement action, not always on its own.

However he felt that merging all enforcement agencies would create a monster agency since there were many entities and organisations whose duties included enforcement. Where their duties converged such agencies were working together. This was what was done between the superintendence and the police and customs, for example with regard to the recovery of historical items from the sea.

Actions carried out jointly by the police and the superintendence had led to the discovery and recovery of 500 objects of cultural value following six raids in private residences and in another place and a magisterial inquiry was being held.

Referring to Mr Abela's remarks, Dr Zammit Dimech said that former restoration centre employees were now Heritage Malta employees and all knew their responsibilities. He said that Misco was a well respected organisation, but it was not the only one which held courses on behalf of Heritage Malta.

Dr Zammit Dimech said that Heritage Malta was carrying out an academic audit using outside professionals, seeing how courses could attract students. It was not enough to have one B. Cons. student even though there were more than 20 students in relevant vocational courses.

Turning to presentation facilities at Ggantija, the minister said that Mepa would today be considering an application for the setting up of an interim visitors' centre, new walkways and general improvement of the site.

Referring to comments by Dr Brincat on the relationship between Mepa and the Superintendence, he said that the suggestion made by Dr Brincat was a very delicate one. But to give the superintendence a veto on anything regarding cultural heritage would be saying that Mepa was not functioning well in this sector.

There should clearly be better coordination between the two organisations but they were already working together. Mepa's Heritage Advisory Committee was appointed by the minister in charge of planning, together with himself. It worked independently of Mepa and gave relevant advice.