The Cultural Heritage Preservation Act (文化資產保存法) should be amended to grant more people the right to select review committee members, advocates said on Wednesday, adding that pledges to guarantee greater civil participation have yet to be realized.
Several members of the Cultural Heritage Civil Action Front gathered outside a building in Taipei where a Ministry of Culture explanatory session last year passed new regulations to implement amendments to the act, calling on the government to return their “civil rights” to participate in the cultural heritage review process.
“Review meetings should include experts from diverse backgrounds and civil society representatives to monitor and ensure that local governments follow up on civil society reports calling for historical preservation review of different sites,” front member Lin Kuei-miao (林奎妙) said.
Photo: Chung Hung-liang, Taipei Times
Review committees convened by local governments are responsible for determining whether buildings and sites should be deemed historic, granting them legal protection from demolition.
Protesters dressed as chickens performed a skit portraying the act as a rickety cage full of loopholes, in reference to the Chinese characters for “chicken” (雞) and “historic site” (古跡), which have similar pronunciations.
“Sometimes the law appears as if it is intended to facilitate the lawful demolition of historic sites,” Lin said, adding that the lack of civic participation give local governments undue influence throughout the review process.
While amendments to the act guarantee universal and equal participation rights in the cultural site preservation process, local governments are only required to hold public explanatory sessions and hearings, but do not have to include civic representatives in review meetings, she said.
“Cultural civic rights are far too weak, enabling the sole dominance of local governments. New revisions to implement regulations should abolish the monopoly of a small group of government-hired experts in favor of open review,” Lin said. “If you do not open up selection of review committee members to civic participation, local governments will be able to choose members who do what they are told.”
Amendments have also lowered the legal standing of civil society appeals to initiate a review process, she said, calling for new amendments to restore the standing of appeals.
“Previously, we were allowed to formally apply for a review of a site — the same right possessed by property owners — and if the government dragged its feet in addressing the application we could appeal or bring a lawsuit,” Lin said.
“However, after the amendments, the applications have become simply reports, which are deemed merely a recommendation in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act (行政程序法); the government has no obligation to follow up on them,” Lin added, calling for all documents and reports related to the review of historic sites to be published online.
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