LAHORE, Nov 7: Stiff opposition by the federal government is likely to delay if not stall the proposed transfer of historical monuments and sites to the provinces which was originally desired by President Gen Pervez Musharraf.

“We have started losing hope because of the views expressed by the ministry of culture,” officials in the Punjab said on Wednesday.

The direction by the president to hand over the management of these monuments and sites to the provinces was welcomed in the Punjab which had immediately expressed its willingness to take over them for, what officials said, better management.

Sindh, Balochistan and the NWFP which initially had expressed their reservations about the plan because of the non-availability of expertise in archaeology and required funds. But they too agreed to take over the monuments in the last meeting held in Islamabad if the required funds and staff were given to them.

Official sources said the last meeting was held on Oct 18 but no positive message had been conveyed to the Punjab with regard to the transfer of the monuments.

They said apparent hurdles in the plan were the legal and technical complications which the federal ministry had pointed out, indicating that these required settlement before a final decision by the authorities.

The ministry had pointed out that the provinces did not have trained manpower and budgetary support to sustain the decentralization of the monuments.

In case of the decentralization, every province will have its own policy and in this case difference of opinion was likely to emerge.

International agencies like UNESCO did not sport interaction with provincial and local governments. They preferred to deal with the federal government as signatory to their conventions and agreements.

Special technical and professional skills were required to maintain archaeological sites and, being cultural heritage, care was to be taken that they were not commercially exploited.

The archaeological sites being attraction for foreign tourists needed to be properly projected in line with the ECO (Economic Cooperation Organization) tourism policy.

The setup of the district governments was totally new and was not in a position to bear the burden of the archaeological sites.

Officials said the decisions taken in the last meeting too were enough to delay the implementation of the orders by the president if not to thwart the proposed plan.

They were: The federal government will obtain views of the UNESCO on the proposed decentralization, especially with reference to the sites placed on the World Heritage List;

Modalities will have to be worked out to establish a coordination system among the provincial governments and the federal government for uniformity in policy regarding the maintenance of archaeological sites;

The role of the federal department of archaeology and museums will have to be worked out and the firmed up views of the National Reconstruction Bureau be considered and incorporated in the final proposal;

The federal government will work out the modalities and legal repercussions involved in the transfer of the monuments along with trained manpower and funds.