TIRANA, June 9/ATA/ Minister of Culture Elva Margariti stated today in the Assembly that, “Even after the vote in Parliament on the agreement “On approval of the agreement on administration of cultural heritage and cultural landscape sub-zones, part of Butrint National Park, between the Ministry of Culture and the Foundation of Management of Butrint ”, Butrint will continue to be the property of the state”.
During an interpellation requested by the Democratic Party MP Ina Zhupa, Margariti stressed that, “Although the discussion on this draft law was discussed at length in the Parliamentary committees, it seems that some colleagues of the opposition have still question marks “.
“Butrint will be administered by a special foundation, established by the state in cooperation with the Albanian-American Development Foundation (AADF). The Butrint Management Foundation is an Albanian foundation, established by the Ministry of Culture and the Albanian-American Development Foundation, and the Ministry, through a monitoring center, has the right to control the activity of the Foundation”, stressed Margariti.
Margariti stated that the administration agreement does not provide for any transfer or alienation of property.
Minister Margariti noted that the Foundation operates according to the Albanian Law on NGOs, so it is non-profit. Rejecting every claim that the Albanian state is giving Butrint National Park a concession, she said that every penny of Butrint remains in Butrint.
Minister Margariti added that, “About 300,000 USD grants are provided for local residents who live in the areas around Butrint and these grants will be given for investments in local inns, handicrafts or agricultural products with a focus on promoting local products “Made in Butrint”.
According to her, for the first time a percentage of the foundation’s income will be donated to the Cultural Heritage Fund in the Ministry of Culture, to help other sites to lead them to the same model.
For all those who claim that the Management Plan was drafted without consulting Albanian experts, Margariti said that, “The Ministry of Culture, in addition to having all the correspondence with the Institute of Archeology, as the institution responsible for this field, notes that they have consulted about 80 Albanian experts and collaborators in the respective fields”.
But, Margariti continued, the most important is the signing together with this agreement of the cooperation protocol between the Foundation and the Institute of Archeology./k.s/j.p/p.s./
