Preserving and restoring cultural relics: Slow, due to many obstacles

Although approved,Over the years, a number of projects have been carried out to preserve and restore historical and cultural relics in the area.n provinces are still "marking time" or implementing very slowly.

In fact, there are many reasons surrounding this issue. 50% of the projects that have been implemented out of 20 projects approved in the past is too small a number. Among these, some projects have been renovated for many years, but have not been completed yet, such as the project to preserve and restore the national historical and cultural relic of Cuong Temple, the project to preserve and restore the Kim Lien Relic Site...

Some others such as Truong Bon Historical Relic Site, Thai Lao Square and Cemetery... although construction has started and some projects have been renovated, the progress is now slower than before. The remaining projects such as Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Memorial Site, Phan Boi Chau Memorial Site, King Le Temple... are also not yet able to be implemented even though they have been approved for several years now...

Truong Bon historical relic site. Photo: Internet

One of the reasons why projects to preserve and restore historical and cultural relics in our province are slower than planned is due to lack of capital. For example, in the Thai Lao Square and Cemetery Project, according to the initial approval, the project had a total capital of 300 billion VND, but only 6 billion has been granted so far. The Con Temple Relic Area Project had a total capital of 25 billion VND, but only 5 billion has been granted so far.

Although the Phan Boi Chau Memorial Project has completed its survey documents and the neighboring households have agreed to the relocation plan, because the project has only been allocated 3 billion (out of the planned 5 billion), it has not been possible to clear the land for renovation. Also related to the issue of land clearance, many projects are now in a "difficult" situation because the compensation land price is constantly increasing while the budget for compensation is "standing still".

Typically, in the Con Temple project, previously, because the people demanded a high compensation price, the festival ground was moved to a new location. Now, after many years of not having capital to build, the price of the new land has been raised as high as the previous ground. Many people wonder how high the price will go if the project is still stuck and when it will be cleared.

The dependence on consultants from outside the province is also a reason for the delay of projects. The reason for this phenomenon is that there is currently almost no unit in the province with enough expertise and experience to set up projects on the restoration of cultural relics. Lacking human resources within the province, almost 100% of relic restoration projects in Nghe An have to hire consulting companies from outside the province, because of the distance, the conditions for working directly with the projects during the construction process are not many, so it is limited in urging the work.

The process of approving dossiers for relic restoration has too many procedures and is also governed by many laws such as the Law on Cultural Heritage, the Law on Construction, the Law on Land, the Law on Budget... which is also an obstacle that makes many consultants "hesitate" when appraising dossiers. That is also the reason why the Hong Son Temple restoration project and the Luong Son communal house restoration project have had restoration plans for many years, but up to now the dossiers have not been approved.

The above projects may be delayed for many years, because recently, to avoid high inflation, the Ministry of Planning and Investment has issued a plan to extend the progress of ineffective projects, focusing capital on projects completed in 2011 and important, urgent projects and not starting new projects when the investment capital source is not clearly identified - Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh - Head of the Provincial Monuments and Landscapes Management Board said. Regarding the mobilization of social capital, Mr. Thanh said that it is an unfeasible solution because so far, contributions to the restoration of relics have only stopped at clan relics. Even for the restoration project of Truong Bon Historical Relic Area, although many units have registered for support, the actual amount of money transferred is not worth much.

Faced with this reality, the province and the cultural sector also need to review projects and give priority to unfinished projects and projects that have seriously degraded, avoiding small, fragmented investments that are both costly and time-consuming. Along with restoration, localities also need to coordinate in protecting and preserving relics, pay attention to socialization in preserving and embellishing relics, coordinate with localities in procedures for granting land use rights to relics, supplement plans for fire prevention, storm and flood prevention, etc.

My Ha