Cultural Artifact Bill, 3 others sent to committees for evaluation

The Parliament, this Monday afternoon, voted to send the Cultural Artifact Bill and three other legislatures to committees for evaluation.

THE FOUR BILLS

• Cultural Artifact Bill, submitted by North Galolhu MP Eva Abdulla
• Creation and Sustenance of Business Competitiveness Bill, submitted by Central Hithadhoo MP Ibrahim Mohamed Didi
• Consumer and Seller Protection Bill, submitted by West Maafannu MP Mohamed Falah
• Civil Service Bill, submitted by West Maafannu MP Mohamed Falah

There were 50 lawmakers in attendance during this Monday afternoon’s Parliament sitting.

Cultural Artifact Bill was accepted into the Parliament and sent to the committee for evaluation with the vote of 45 lawmakers; Creation and Sustenance of Business Competitiveness Bill was accepted into the Parliament and sent to the committee for evaluation with the vote of 49 lawmakers; Consumer Seller and Protection Bill was accepted into the Parliament and sent to the committee for evaluation with the vote of 48 lawmakers; and the amendment to Civil Service Act was accepted into the Parliament and sent to the committee for evaluation with the vote of 49 lawmakers.

The four legislatures have now been sent to respective committees for evaluations.

Preliminary debate on the four legislatures were held at the Parliament this Monday morning.

Presenting the Cultural Artifact Bill, MP Eva stressed that cultural artifacts were the basis of one’s identity.

“It is imperative that we protect our cultural artifacts. It is not ours alone. We inherited it through our ancestors and need to pass it along to our future generations,” said Eva.

Eva said the legislature details identification, classification and protection of cultural artifacts.

The legislature is designed to impose penalties on any person who destroys a cultural artifact, either by imposition of a fine based on the value of the artifact, or via prison sentences.

A person found guilty of destroying a cultural artifact may be fined anywhere between MVR 100,000 – MVR 1 million, or may be imprisoned for five to 20 years.

CRITERIA FOR ASSERTAINING DAMAGE TO CULTURAL ARTIFACT

• Any act to destroy or damage a place or item declared a cultural artifact
• Any change to, modification to or forgery of a cultural artifact
• Import or export or sale or distribution of a cultural artifact of Maldives or any other country without the consent of its owner
• Excavation of any site in search of a valuable item without agency permit