What Are the Obstacles to Designating Cultural Heritage Status?

The National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) has proposed several key points for the draft law on the Protection and Utilisation of Cultural Heritage currently being discussed by House of Representatives Commission X. Head of the BRIN Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology Research Centre, Irfan Mahmud, stated there are five measures the government and the House can take to accelerate the designation of cultural heritage.

These are a systematic national inventory, setting priorities, making scientific research the basis for designation, strengthening institutional and human resource capacity, and integration and participation. Irfan noted that inventory efforts are often hampered by a limited number of cultural heritage expert teams in the regions. This limitation means research data cannot be utilised optimally.

He cited an example in Sukabumi, West Java, where a BRIN team recently discovered a new potential cultural heritage site to be proposed. The problem is that the effort is constrained by the lack of expert teams in the area. ‘It is also important to note that priorities between institutions are often different,’ Irfan said. He explained that differing priorities between BRIN and the Ministry of Culture have hindered efforts to accelerate cultural heritage protection. However, since last March, BRIN has signed a cooperation agreement with the institution led by Fadli Zon to jointly carry out the protection and utilisation of cultural heritage.

In drafting this bill, BRIN is also emphasising the creation of an integrated data platform. With this concept, the government will have a roadmap for identifying various potential suspected cultural heritage objects (ODCB). Irfan also reminded that the use of research should not only highlight archaeological aspects but must also include architectural and geographical aspects to mitigate the risk of research errors regarding ODCB.

‘Finally, integration between research findings and spatial planning documents is also needed. This is because many conflicts occur due to spatial planning documents that have not been integrated,’ Irfan said.

At the same hearing, House Commission X member Lestari Moerdijat stated that efforts to protect and utilise cultural heritage are still hampered by regulations that operate sectorally. She noted that normatively, Indonesia already has regulations governing cultural heritage protection. The problem is that these various regulations are not yet synchronised with one another and face administrative obstacles in the designation of cultural heritage.

‘There are also historic buildings that have not been registered as cultural heritage due to concerns from owners or local governments that such a status would limit the building’s utilisation,’ Lestari said. Nevertheless, she added that the input provided, including from BRIN regarding the protection and utilisation of cultural heritage, will serve as important material for House Commission X to formulate more comprehensive regulations in the future.