The implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) in the field of Culture has changed since May, “with progress being seen in the development of investments,” the State Secretariat for Culture told Lusa news agency.
These advances, although not yet measurable, should already be “expressed in the next report” of the National Monitoring Commission of the PRR (CNA-PRR), said the office of María de Lurdes Craveiro, adding that the data published last Wednesday reflect the situation found “in the ministry, bequeathed by the previous executive”, and that resulted in the “status” “sent to this commission on May 27, 2024”.
The most recent report by the CNA-PRR, released on July 24, “worryingly” worsened the execution in the area of Cultural Heritage.
PRR: Monitoring Committee raises the level of “worrying” in Cultural Heritage
Of the set of 76 investments planned in this segment of the PRR Culture area, which has 214.1 million euros to be executed until the end of the first quarter of 2026, More than half were still in the design or bidding phase.prior to the start of the works. In this segment, only the measures of the Sabre Fazer programme, dedicated to Portuguese artisanal production, have been completed.
In the Cultural Networks and Digital Transition segment, which has a budget of 103 million euros, the CNA-PRR report recommends a “necessary monitoring” by the supervisor, since key projects “do not seem to be at risk”, such as the digitalisation of Portuguese cinema by the Portuguese Cinematheque and the installation of the National Sound Library, but with interventions related to museums and monuments, such as the digitalisation of collections and the design of virtual visits, which show the greatest delays.
The strategy defined by the Ministry and the Secretary of State for Culture, after taking office on April 2, “was to know, first of all, the real situation of the investments in terms of physical and financial execution” of the PRR and, “Shortly after resolving, recovering and accelerating the implementation of the planned measures”.
One of the cases highlighted in the report, at risk of a financial overcost of one million euros, was related to the National Museum of Archaeology, which It has one of the largest investments in the field of PRR Culture, 32.7 million eurosAccording to the office of María de Lurdes Craveiro, the project “deserves special attention” from the Ministry, to avoid exceeding the planned budget.
“The investment in the museum was the subject of a priority strategy, meeting objectives and deadlines, developed in joint meetings with the final beneficiaries and the responsible entities,” the Secretary of State for Culture told Lusa. “The museum project is undergoing changes, to better meet the objectives and, therefore, there is no budget overrun.”
As for the book lending platform in public libraries, which was awaiting approval from the Court of Auditors, according to the CNA-PRR report, the prior visa has already been guaranteed, with the process underway, under the contract of January 31, 2024, “for a value of 800 thousand euros”: “The measure, therefore, is in development during 2024”.
“From May 2024 to the present,” the Ministry of Culture and the State Secretariat for Culture, “Given the situation received and reported by the previous executive, he took measures to unblock and accelerate the execution of investments. related to Cultural Heritage and Cultural Networks and the Digital Transition, which are under their responsibility,” María de Lurdes Craveiro’s office told Lusa in a written response.
“Among the measures taken, the fortnightly and joint meetings” with the public institute Património Cultural and the company Museus e Monumentos de Portugal, the Associação Turismo de Lisboa, “which had not taken place until then, as well as the fortnightly meetings with the Cabinet of Strategy, Planning and Cultural Evaluation and visits to sites of the Secretary of State for Culture, which involved meetings with local authorities and other entities, such as OPART [Organismo de Produção Artística, que gere o Teatro Nacional de São Carlos e a Companhia Nacional de Bailado] and TNDMII [Teatro Nacional D. Maria II].”
These meetings and visits “allowed us to unblock problems”assures the office of María de Lurdes Craveiro. “And by working together with the entities and the final beneficiaries, it was possible to find solutions to the delays and critical situations identified,” she concludes, pointing out a positive evolution that will be reflected in the next CNA-PRR execution report.
The weak implementation of the PRR in the field of heritage was one of the reasons given by the Minister of Culture, Dalila Rodrigues, for the dismissal of the former director of the public institute Cultural Heritage, in a parliamentary hearing held at the beginning of the month.
Source: Observadora
