A new National Archives Council, bringing together various experts from the arts, library and history fields, was announced yesterday by Education, Youth and Employment Minister Louis Galea.

The council’s brief includes the drawing up of guidelines and procedures to be followed when storing and collecting government documents. It was also involved in the drafting of policy to be followed by government departments in the archiving of sensitive material.

Speaking at a press conference, Minister Galea said that the first step in the formation of this council was the restructuring of the National Archives of Malta into a government agency with Charles Farrugia appointed as Malta’s first National Archivist on 1 September 2005.

Minister Galea explained that the new Archives Act, which came into effect on the same date, places before the National Archives the challenge of safeguarding the collective memory of the Maltese Nation. He said that the role and responsibilities of the Archives Council are defined in the National Archives Act with the council having advisory and non-executive powers.

The minister explained that the composition of the Archives Council brings together representatives from the heritage sector such as the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage and Heritage Malta together with expertise from the Public sector administrative background such as the Permanent Secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister.

The National Archives Council is headed by Joe Izzo as chairperson and eight other board members as follows: Nathaniel Cutajar, Dr Mario Tabone, Philip Borg, Anthony J. Vella, Mgr Gwann Azzopardi, Dr Lillian Sciberras, Max Farrugia and John Cremona.