星期二, 7月 24, 2007

Lighthouse Protectors’ plan to complain to UNESCO

‘Lighthouse Protectors’ plan to complain to UNESCO

Macau Post Daily 17 July 2007

Suki Leong

The League of Guia Lighthouse Protectors plans to file a formal complaint to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre in Paris this week about the Macau government’s “wavering” stance on the protection of the Guia Lighthouse and the construction of high-rise buildings in front of Guia Hill, a source close to the pressure group has told The Macau Post Daily.

The source said the league members had prepared a “huge file” on the Guia Lighthouse issue for presentation to the UNESCO.

The source said the government was “playing a waiting game” with the league. The source pointed out that construction of the new headquarters of the Central People’s Government’s Liaison Office in front of the Guia Hill was already in full swing. While the high-rise building was originally planned to be 99 metres high (in commemoration of Macau’s return to the motherland on December 19, 1999), its “adjusted” height is still unknown to the public. The Liaison Office said earlier this year it would respect public opinion on the row.

Following a public outcry over plans to build three high-rise buildings in front of the Guia Hill – one of the towers was reportedly planned to reach 135 metres – the government finally relented by limiting the height of buildings in front of the 90-metre hill to “no higher than 90 metres.”

The Guia Lighthouse, which was completed in 1965, is part of Macau’s world-heritage protected by the UNESCO. The view of, and view from the 15-metre high lighthouse has been under threat by high-rise construction projects near the hill, namely in Zape.

“Monster construction projects are threatening our world heritage buildings,” said the source who urged members of the public to express their views online by accessing http://guialighthouse.blogspot.com

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