The Ministry of Finance has just sent a report to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai on the results of the pilot inspection of the management of donation money at historical and cultural relics, communal houses and pagodas in Quang Ninh province in 2022 and the first 4 months of 2023.
Accordingly, the total revenue and expenditure of donations and sponsorships at relic sites in 2022 is 70.8 billion VND (excluding donations and sponsorships in kind and construction works), equal to about 40-60% of the revenue from donations and sponsorships in 2019 - the time before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Of which, total expenditure is 54.4 billion VND, total revenue is 61 billion VND (excluding donations, in-kind sponsorship, construction works), nearly equal to the revenue of the whole year 2022.
According to the report of the Ministry of Finance, the above data has only been compiled from reports of 221/450 historical - cultural relics that need to be inspected (about 47%).
Notably, there are up to 50 relics that do not have data reporting donation money, including Ba Vang Pagoda in Uong Bi, a provincial relic, which is considered a pagoda with high donation revenue.
The amount of donation collected at Yen Tu Pagoda in 2022 is 3.7 billion VND.
The report also pointed out many unreasonable donation amounts of some major relics. Specifically, at the Yen Tu historical relic and scenic spot, a famous place that welcomes over 2 million visitors each year, the donation amount in 2022 was 3.7 billion VND.
This figure seems unreasonable, because it is only equivalent to the revenue at Bach Dang historical relic site of 3.3 billion VND, lower than the revenue at Thanh Mau temple, a provincial relic in Tra Co ward, Mong Cai of 5.8 billion VND and less than 1/5 of the revenue at Cua Ong temple of 20.1 billion VND.
"Looking at the above comparison data, it is inevitable that there will be concerns about the objectivity in receiving and counting donation money at the historical relic and scenic spot Yen Tu," the Ministry of Finance said.
According to data provided by the Yen Tu National Park and Relic Management Board, from 2007 to April 2023, the total revenue from the donation box was 287 billion VND, and the total expenditure was about 638 billion VND.
On that basis, the Ministry of Finance believes that the actual donation revenue is at least 351 billion VND higher than the revenue stated in the report sent to the inspection team. If the revenue is calculated by the expenditure, it is 2.2 times higher.
The Ministry of Finance requested Quang Ninh to review, evaluate, and fully identify the value of each of the 328 relics mentioned above.
In case the relic does not meet the criteria for ranking, it will be removed from the inventory list; in case the relic does meet the criteria for ranking, a plan will be made to preserve, repair and restore the relic, especially those that are degraded, destroyed or at risk of being destroyed.
After the inspection in Quang Ninh, the Ministry of Finance said that the inspection of donation collection and expenditure will take place nationwide, the inspection period will be in 2022 and 2023.
The subjects of inspection are historical-cultural relics, communal houses and pagodas that have been granted relic classification certificates by competent State agencies or included in the local relic inventory list according to the provisions of the Law on Cultural Heritage. The provinces shall send inspection results reports to the Ministry of Finance in the first quarter of 2024 .
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