Several members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee yesterday questioned the Council for Cultural Affairs (CCA) about the number of historical monuments designated by the government after the quantity nearly tripled in the past 13 years.
During a question-and-answer session with Vice Minister of Cultural Affairs Hong Chin-fong (洪慶峰), Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chao Li-yun (趙麗雲) said she wondered if the government had failed to play the role of gatekeeper when screening applications for the designation of historical monuments because the number of such monuments at the national and municipal level had almost tripled since the Cultural Assets Protection Act (文化資產保護法) was amended in 1997.
“The number of designated historical monuments rose from 267 in 1997 to 718 this year, almost tripling in just 17 years,” Chao said.
Among the 718 historical monuments, 88 are national monuments, 475 are municipal monuments and 155 have been designated by special municipalities.
Hong said the growth meant that people now had a better understanding of the importance of preserving historical sites.
The legislator asked whether the council had drawn up measures on how to cope with the increasing financial burden and manpower needed to maintain the growing number of monuments.
KMT Legislator Chiang Nai-shin (蔣乃辛) and Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) also questioned the council about maintenance of the monuments.
In accordance with the Act, government agencies or the owners of the monuments are responsible for maintaining them.
If private property is designated as an historical monument, the owner of the property should cover 30 percent of the budget needed to maintain it, the Act says.
Chiang said that while the Taiwan Railway Administration and the Bank of Taiwan both own a number of historical monuments, they have been reluctant to earmark funds to maintain the sites.
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