The architectural community is complaining that the government has pushed aside the Direccion Nacional de Patrimonio Monumental (DNPM), whose role is to oversee heritage monuments in the Colonial Cities, and are instead putting the Office of Supervisory Works of the State (OISOE) in charge of construction and renovation projects. Lawyer Edwin Espinal says that the recently announced decision shows major institutional weaknesses in government.
He pointed out that restoration works on the Puerta del Conde, ruins of La Vega Vieja and the MITUR project in the Colonial City, which attracted controversy, had been carried out without the DNPM’s involvement. Espinal said that the DNPM director only found out that the OISOE was responsible for the Santa Barbara Church restoration work when it was announced by the OISOE at a press conference.
