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.

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 any data reporting donation money. Among them, Ba Vang Pagoda in Uong Bi, a provincial relic, is considered a pagoda with good donation revenue.

However, in response to this information, Ba Vang Pagoda issued a statement affirming: “The press reporting that Ba Vang Pagoda did not report the receipt and expenditure of donations is completely untrue, causing particularly serious damage to the reputation of Ba Vang Pagoda in particular and the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha in general. The above information causes misunderstanding that Ba Vang Pagoda has intentionally opposed the law of the State, the direction of the Prime Minister and the request of the Inspection Team.”

Ba Vang Pagoda said that no inspection team has ever come to check the collection and disbursement of donation money, and no team has ever come to request a report on donation money, or any document requesting a report on donation money.

"No inspection team came to inspect, and there was no request for the pagoda to submit a report on the revenue and expenditure of donations. So what basis is there to say that Ba Vang Pagoda did not report the revenue and expenditure of donations?", Ba Vang Pagoda asked.

B is worried about the donation money at Yen Tu pagoda.

In addition, the Ministry of Finance's report also pointed out many unreasonable donation amounts of some large 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 .