Carion hopes for consensus on height row

Carion hopes for consensus on height row

Macau Post Daily 01-02-2007
Suki Leong

Jaime Carion, director of the Lands, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT), told the media yesterday he hoped that a “consensus” could soon be reached to solve the controversy over high-rise building projects in the Outer Harbour that are threatening to block the view of, and view from, the historic Guia Lighthouse.

Mr. Carion made the remarks on the margins of an ad hoc committee of the Legislative Assembly (AL) that is discussing the legal framework regulating public concessions and land leases.

The DSSOPT director said the government was trying to reach a consensus on how to lower the height of several high-rise building projects at the foot of the Guia Hill.

According to construction plans earlier revealed by the DSSOPT, one of the building projects at the foot of the 90-metre Guia Hill is projected to have a height of 135 metres. The 15-metre tall Guia Lighthouse, which was built in 1865, stands on top of the hill, which is the highest elevation on the Macau Peninsula.

Mr. Carion was, however, adamant in stressing that it would ultimately depend on the projects’ developers whether they were prepared to lower the height of the buildings, considering that there existed currently no height restrictions in the respective area in front of Guia Hill and that the projects had all been approved by the DSSOPT.

The Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government has pledged to lower the height of its headquarters project in an apparent reaction to a public outcry that the project would block the view of, and view from, the Guia Lighthouse, which is one of Macau’s best-known landmarks listed as world heritage by the UNESCO in Paris.

Originally, the Liaison Office headquarters building was planned to be 99.9 metre high. The Liaison Office has indicated that the adjusted height would not be higher than Guia Hill.Mr. Carion also confirmed that the DSSOPT had a multi-development plan to develop Ko Ho wet land near Cotai Strip, stressing that prior to Macau’s return to the motherland, the previous government had already planned to develop the area, however Mr. Carion was unable to say whether the plans would proceed or not.