The National Assembly Standing Committee pondered how to use the law to better preserve the original and historical values of Viet Nam’s cultural heritage at its monthly session on Friday.

The Hoang A Tuong residence building, a recognised cultural relic in the northern province of Lao Cai’s Bac Ha Town, is under restoration with funding of VND8.3billion (US$465,000).

The committee gave restoration particular attention.

Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Hoang Anh Tuan said many loopholes had been exposed in the existing law.

This included neglect of unlisted historical relics that had led to the accidental damage of several monuments and cultural sites.

The minister suggested provision for the immediate granting of an emergency excavation permit to an eligible applicant where archaeological sites were in danger of ruin or destruction.

He agreed with the National Assembly’s Culture, Education, and Children Committee chairman Dao Trong Thi that any restoration of cultural and historical relics should respect their originality.

The deputies also tried to create a clearer definition of the originality of individual projects.

They agreed ambiguous terms in the existing law have made restoration more difficult, especially in the search for the original look of an historical relic.

“Many relics have gone through a series of restorations each influenced by different schools of architecture and this made the quest for originality hard work,” said chairman Thi.

He said that Article 32 of the Culture and Heritage Law that governs restoration should only define an historical relic’s typical and unique values.

Additional construction, if any, should enhance only the relic and not affect its surrounds.

Legal Committee Chairman Nguyen Van Thuan said an historical relic could be well preserved only if people were prohibited from sheltering inside.

Poor people taking refuge in pagodas and temples has become common throughout the country, he said.

Draft amendments to Article 34 and Article 35 of the law that would remove the need to have restoration of historical and cultural relics approved by competent authorities sparked debate.

Defence and Security Committee Chairman Le Quang Binh disapproved of the suggested change.

Less regulations could result in the ruin of important relics, he warned.

Careless restoration

Many other delegates agreed.

Careless restoration by some investors unfamiliar with the law and entirely dependant on consultants were doing more harm than good to the national heritage. Thousands of historical and cultural vestiges had been badly damaged by human action or inaction, they said.

The deputies argued that restoration work must include specialists and this must be stipulated in the law.

They also discussed the protection of intangible culture.

The Culture and Heritage Law took effect seven years ago.

Viet Nam has about 40,000 historical relics, including 3,018 listed as national sites.

Almost 1,500 have been restored with most of the funding drawn from the National Targeted Programme.

The Viet Nam Cultural Heritage Preservation Department reports that at least 7,300 historical and cultural heritage sites have suffered significant damage.

The plenary session of the National Assembly is expected to approve the amendments when it sits next month.

Meanwhile, Draft laws on the establishment of representative offices abroad by Vietnamese enterprises, and on damages paid in claims against the State were also discussed yesterday.

The discussion on representative offices marked the fourth time deputies had reviewed drafts of this law, with most deputies yesterday welcoming the changes in the latest draft.

The new draft represented a significant change in the preparation and structuring of representative offices abroad, in line with Party renewal guidelines and the nation’s call to practice thrift, said the chairman of the National Assembly’s Legal Committee, Nguyen Van Thuan.

The current bill would enable Vietnamese embassies and other agencies to foster better relationships with host governments, agreed the vice chairman of the National Assembly’s External Affairs Committee, Ngo Quang Xuan.

Compo agency a must

Regarding the draft law on State compensation, National Assembly vice-chairman Nguyen Duc Kien said it was imperative to have an agency in charge of compensation.

“If damages are caused by multiple factors, there should be an agency acting as a focal point for the victim to contact,” said Kien.

Nationalities Council chairman Ksor Phuoc wondered whether the State would compensate in such cases in which damages have been intentionally caused against an individual or particular group of people.

Minister of Justice Ha Hung Cuong said: “The victim would receive compensation, but the culprits must be punished in accordance with the law.”

Committee members also noted that the bill’s provision for a two-year statute of limitations should be changed in cases of force majeure in order to conform with the Civil Code.

The latest draft of the law was based on comments made by deputies during the legislative session last November. The final bill is expected to be approved by the National Assembly in May.

VietNamNet/VNS