Opening the door to mobilizing resources for heritage conservation

The 8th session of the 15th National Assembly passed the Law on Cultural Heritage (amended). This is good news not only for those working in cultural heritage management, but also for many residential communities.

A local official once complained that the relics in the area were deteriorating while the budget for restoration was very limited and socialized funds were difficult to mobilize. He said that an individual expressed his desire to invest in the restoration of the relics, but he had set conditions. Although he wanted this amount of money, after consulting with specialized agencies, the locality had to say no, because the implementation requirements were beyond the authority of the commune level.

Similarly, a museum leader said that the museum’s demand for artifacts is high but its budget is limited. Knowing that there are many valuable artifacts, but only daring to raise the issue of “borrowing”. If the museum has enough funds, it can “properly” bring the artifacts back to the museum for research and display.

Stories like this do not only happen in one locality or one museum, but are a common situation across the country. Although the State has made great efforts to invest in the preservation and promotion of cultural heritage values, it has not been able to meet the demand.

With a province having more than 1,500 relics, along with many intangible cultural heritages, the material needs for the work of preserving and promoting the value of heritage are very large. Along with that, in order to gradually modernize the provincial museum, a considerable amount of funding is also needed. Recently, the provincial budget has spent more than 22 billion VND to "Renew the activities of Thanh Hoa Provincial Museum until 2030", however, this resource cannot fully meet the requirements of museum modernization as desired.

A larger source of funding for the conservation and promotion of cultural heritage values ​​is a problem, but due to the constraints of the mechanism, this resource cannot be mobilized properly. This problem is being gradually resolved when the Law on Cultural Heritage (amended) allows the establishment of a cultural heritage conservation fund. This is a state financial fund outside the budget, established and operating according to the provisions of law to support funding for activities to protect and promote the values ​​of cultural heritage that have not been invested, supported or invested in enough by the state budget. The fund is allowed to mobilize resources from many different channels. Not only established at the central level, provinces and cities also have the right to establish funds depending on the conditions and cultural characteristics of each region. This fund is expected to contribute to the restoration of relics, protection of intangible cultural values, purchase and repatriation of antiquities in an easier, more appropriate and timely manner.

The legal framework is already in place, the remaining issue is how to implement it so that the regulations can take effect soon. This requirement requires the authorities to issue specific and clear implementation guidelines as soon as possible, in order to mobilize solid financial resources as well as ensure transparency in the management and use of funds, avoiding noise - which has long been a pressing issue in the management of relics in many places.

Wisdom

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/mo-canh-cua-huy-dong-nguon-luc-bao-ton-di-san-231768.htm