Fadli Zon Reveals Hurdles to National Cultural Heritage Designation: Absence of Regional Experts

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Culture Minister Fadli Zon revealed that one of the main obstacles to the slow designation of national cultural heritage is the lack of Tim Ahli Cagar Budaya in the regions. He said this while answering reporters’ questions at a media briefing on the national-level designation of cultural heritage on Tuesday (19 May 2026).

‘Well, this is one of the obstacles: in the regions there is no expert team. Sometimes they do not know,’ Fadli said on Tuesday.

However, many regions have not yet established Tim Ahli Cagar Budaya as mandated by law.

‘The obstacle is sometimes bureaucracy, in the multi-tier designation process. So if the regional government doesn’t care and does not have a Tim Ahli Cagar Budaya at the regional level, because the mandate of the law is that there should be a Tim Ahli Cagar Budaya at the regency/city level. Sometimes it’s not present in the regency,’ he said.

‘For example, a lecturer, just like that, cannot do it, or an academic cannot. They must have a professional qualification certificate, competency as a Tim Ahli Cagar Budaya at the regency or province level,’ he explained.

Fadli said that ideally every district/city and province should have its own expert team consisting of a range of disciplines such as archaeologists, historians, anthropologists, architects, and sociologists.

However, in practice, some areas have not formed such a team for years, causing data collection and designation of cultural heritage to stall.

‘In one province, for years the provincial Tim Ahli Cagar Budaya has sometimes not even been formed, and the data collection in that province has stalled for that reason,’ Fadli said.

He said the problem could be solved in a matter of days after direct attention from the central government.

‘When I arrived, I told them that what had stalled for three years could be completed in three days. The Tim Ahli Cagar Budaya was immediately formed,’ the Gerindra party politician said.

Besides the shortage of experts, another obstacle is the lengthy study process before an object is designated as national cultural heritage.