Maltese expert engaged as consultant for Palestinian tourism and heritage ministry
Dr Ray Bondin has just returned from Bethlehem, Palestine, where he signed a consultancy agreement with the Palestinian Minister for Tourism and Heritage, Hon. Rula Ma`y`a, on UNESCO World Heritage issues, following an expert mission and meeting with the Centre of Cultural Heritage Preservation of Bethlehem.
During his stay he was shown around possible sites that could be nominated for World Heritage and met a number of Mayors of the various sites.
Dr Bondin, a world renowned expert on world heritage, has been cooperating with the Ministry of Tourism and Heritage of Palestine since 2003 and had helped to build up the Tentative List for World Heritage for Palestine. In 2013 when he was still Malta`s Ambassador and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO he was asked by UNESCO itself to supervise the nomination dossier for the site of Battir, a mission he undertook with the approval of Malta`s Ministry for Foreign Affairs.The cultural landscape of Battir was approved as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2014. This was the second World Heritage site for Palestine.
The advisory role he now has is a continuation of the role he has had over many years. He has met the Minister on several occasions and has collaborated with the Department of Antiquities over many years. He was also very much involved in the setting up of a Palestinian Charter for Cultural Heritage Preservation through an agreement he signed on behalf of Malta which financed the setting up of this Charter together with UNDP, ICCROM and other organizations. The Charter, which was approved in 2013, is the first of its kind in the Arab World.