Alarm bells are ringing once more over the upkeep of Italy's historic monuments, from the Roman city of Pompeii to the Colosseum, with budget cuts hampering repairs and UNESCO issuing a stern rebuke.

"Over the last five years, the culture budget has been reduced by two-thirds," Culture Minister Massimo Bray said in an interview on Monday published in Italian newspapers.

Italy is now lagging well behind its European counterparts: The country allocates just 1.1 percent of its budget to culture, compared with 7.4 percent in Ireland, 3.3 percent in Spain and 2.5 percent in France.

The lack of funds is having a disastrous effect on the country's archaeological treasures, with many sites closed due to fears of rock collapses and others sporadically shut by protests and strikes.

Giovanni Puglisi, head of the UNESCO National Commission in Italy, warned the government this weekend to act fast to adopt suitable measures for Pompeii, which has long been a sponge for funds then used poorly or siphoned off by criminal organizations.

In a January report, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization documented structural shortcomings and light damage at the 44-hectare site in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, where collapsing walls and houses have sparked international concern.

The giant eruption devastated Pompeii nearly 2,000 years ago, but the ash and rock helped preserve many buildings almost in their original state, as well as the curled-up corpses of victims.

The hugely popular site near Naples has come to symbolize decades of mismanagement of many of Italy's cultural treasures, as well as the fallout from austerity cuts in the recession-hit country.

Puglisi warned of "irregular buildings not included in the previous plan and a lack of personnel" at Pompeii and called for "a new observance zone" around the site to protect it from illegal construction encroaching upon the area.

Italy, which is relying heavily on tourism to help boost the economy, moved quickly to reassure UNESCO it was doing its utmost to get the repairs made.

"Our highly symbolic monuments are our best calling cards throughout the world," Bray said.

"Pompeii is a symbol for our country. UNESCO's reprimand is an alarm which I take very seriously and we are already working to overcome the site's urgent problems."

As well as problems with upkeep, however, a lack of staff at the sites has sparked trade union strikes.

Tourists eager to visit Rome's Colosseum, Leonardo da Vinci's painting of the Last Supper in Milan or the Uffizi Gallery in Florence last week were met with closed doors.

Agence France-Presse

(China Daily 07/03/2013 page10)