Myanmar beefs up heritage bills

YANGON  Myanmar has released two protection bills to help preserve heritage.
The two bills are the Protection and Conservation of Ancient Buildings Bill and Protection and Conservation of Antiquities Bill.
Irrawaddy media quoted Ministry of Culture’s archaeology and national museums department general director, Kyaw Oo Lwin, as saying the latest bills had their origin in a 1957 bill and take into account the changing landscape of heritage protection.
“We have separated [the Antiquities Act] into two drafts to make them clear and comprehensive.”
inside no 2The culture ministry had studied examples of heritage protection laws in other Southeast Asian countries during the drafting process, he said.
The bills will project buildings that date back 100 years or more.
Penalties for damaging, removing or destroying heritage buildings and objects will be much tougher than in the past.
The Protection and Conservation of Antiquities Bill states that anyone who attempts to take or transport “antiquities” overseas without permission, or collect them for business purposes, could face a five to 10 years prison sentence, as well as fines.
The Protection and Conservation of Ancient Buildings Bill says anyone who destroys, or damages, protected buildings could face prison terms of between one to seven years, while unauthorised use of photos or videos of historic buildings for business purposes would also be punished.
Critics have also called on special provisions for some individual regions, for example, in Yangon where there are many old colonial buildings. The country needs specific regulations to protect those buildings from real estate developers who either tear them down to make way for modern buildings, or reduce them to a concrete frame and rebuild both exterior and interiors.
Much of Yangon’s inner city charm is linked to colonial buildings especially near the river and port.

sourced:traveldailynews.asia