Forty monuments for rent to offer bar, restaurant services

TIRANA, May 8 – A government proposal to lease monuments of culture for social and cultural purposes, mostly bars and restaurants, on concession contracts has been in principle approved, but the opposition Socialist Party demands strong criteria so that projects are strictly implemented and monuments preserved.
Speaking at the parliamentary education committee this week, Culture Minister Aldo Bumci said a key condition of the public-private partnership will be the drafting and implementation of contracts determining the necessary conditions for the preservation of cultural heritage. “Considering the need for comparative models and examples, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism is in a continuous process of information exchange with other countries such as France, Spain, Italy, Germany, UK, Hungary where examples of public-private cooperation exist and are in an advanced stage,” said Bumci.
The Ministry says that currently only the Lekuras and Petrela fortresses are on long-term contracts while others are on one-year contracts with an option to renew them.
According to the plan unveiled in late January by the head of Albania’s Institute of Monuments, Apollon Bace, some 40 monuments would be leased for a period of up to 100 years, mainly because the government is unable to preserve them.
Bace says detailed plans for the use of these monuments will determine which parts of them are suitable for commercial activities and which parts should not be touched.
Rich with monuments dating back to Roman times, Albania has struggled for years to preserve them properly, as government after government failed to invest enough in restoration.
However, the proposal, which could be acted on soon, has drawn a fierce response from historians, archeologist and architects, some of whom accuse the authorities of failing to safeguard the nation’s heritage.
They point to the fact that two castles privatized under the previous Socialist government have not been preserved properly, and they argue that other monuments could have the same fate if the latest government proposal is finalized.