MP Weber asking PM Citu to secure public funds for urgent conservation the UNESCO heritage in Romania

"The Joint Standing Committee of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate on Relations with UNESCO has asked Prime Minister Florin Citu, in his capacity as prime minister and minister of finance, as well as Minister of Culture Bogdan Gheorghiu to provide at the forthcoming budget revision for 2021 a minimum of 23 million lei needed for urgent interventions for the salvaging of Romanian monuments inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List," Weber said in a press statement released on Wednesday.

According to lawmaker, information provided to the committee by county councils in areas where there are UNESCO heritage sites (Alba, Brasov, Hunedoara, Harghita, Maramures, Mures, Sibiu, Suceava and Valcea) shows that they face "serious underfunding" and that the efforts made at the local level, including by attracting European funds, are" insufficient "for a good management of the monuments.

"We consider that the state of the national heritage in general and of the one that has already received world recognition for its exceptional value must be of concern to all decision makers in Romania. This heritage must be seen both as an element of identity and as something that generates local development and global visibility. A summary calculation shows that the 2021 national budget revision would require 23,427,000 lei for the counties where there are UNESCO heritage sites, distributed directly or under the National Restoration Program carried out by the Ministry of Culture."

The committee also requested that, starting next year, a fixed percentage of the National Restoration Programme be allocated to UNESCO monuments in Romania, so that interventions become predictable, Agerpres informs.