(Adds PN statement)

Parliamentary Secretary Jose’ Herrera said today that he personally agreed with proposals made in an Opposition Bill designating as ‘public domain’ the national cultural and historical heritage and regulating its administration by the government. (see here)

However Dr Herrera said he disagreed with the way the PN had presented its proposal.

He explained that close to the end of the last legislature, the former government had engaged consultants to prepare such legislation. The consultants, paid by the government, had made their proposals and they were now being carried in the PN Bill – meaning that the PN had made as its own what technically belonged to the government.

Dr Herrera told a press conference that for the past eight months he had been working on an integrated maritime policy, as required by the European Union. This legislation would include a section dedicated to public domain based on principles that were very similar to what was listed on the PN bill.

Dr Herrera said he would be meeting the opposition to discuss the issue and see if it could be developed further. 

In a reply the PN said that after the government had not done anything for two years, it made the government's life easy by moving the bill.

All the government had to do now was file and save and see that the bill became law with immediate effect.