South China Morning Post: Alert sounded over vanishing views of Macau lighthouse

South China Morning Post 南華早報
Fox Yi Hu 2007-09-17

Alert sounded over vanishing views of Macau lighthouse

Cultural experts from the United Nations are assessing the impact of Macau's urban growth on a historic lighthouse in the city.

A Unesco spokesman said the organisation had been alerted to towers being built or planned near the 140-year-old Guia Lighthouse, a World Heritage building. The global cultural body had recently brought the situation to Beijing's attention, the spokesman said. It's an urban development and planning issue and we are expressing our concern, he said.

The lighthouse became part of a World Heritage site when the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation conferred the status on Macau's historic centre in 2005. Built in 1865, the lighthouse was the first modern one on the Chinese coast.

Now a property development threatens to throw up a 300-metre-long wall of towers that will obscure the landmark, which stands atop the 91-metre Guia Hill.

One of the towers - to be occupied by the central government's liaison office in Macau - has already risen to six storeys.

The spokesman said the site of the towers was outside the heritage areas outlined in Macau's application for World Heritage status in 2005. Frankly speaking, it's not within the heritage boundary, he said, But as you can see, there's a potential visual impact on the lighthouse.

Last September the government relaxed a long-standing restriction on the maximum height of buildings near Guia Hill, opening the way for developers to plan buildings - as high as 135 metres - at the foot of the hill.
The International Council on Monuments and Sites, which advises Unesco on World Heritage sites, was studying a 60-page report submitted by Macau professionals on potential threats facing the lighthouse, the spokesman said.

A campaign to save views of the lighthouse is widening to people from all walks of life in Macau, with a petition campaign started by residents near Guia Hill gathering more than 2,000 signatures.

A concrete jungle would damage the view of Guia Lighthouse and create a `wall effect' in the area, said Un Wai-tong, a leader of the campaign. It would spoil the environment and fung shui of the entire Guia Hill, and thousands of people who do exercise on the hill may suffer bad air as a result.

Mr Un urged the government to honour its pledge to protect the surroundings of heritage buildings, made two years ago when Macau applied for World Heritage status.

The central government's liaison office originally planned to build a 99.9-metre tower near Guia Hill to mark the 1999 handover. But it scaled back the building plan to 90 metres earlier this year in response to the conservation campaign.

The Macau government said in June it may adopt a 90-metre height limit on buildings close to Guia Hill. However, a 90-metre limit is bound to disappoint conservationists, who believe buildings higher than 20 metres will affect the value of the lighthouse.

Unesco has threatened to remove at least two mainland sites from the World Heritage list and warned against damage to some others.

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