The local driver of a cement mixer lorry was taken in for questioning on Tuesday for damaging the exterior wall of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Mandarin’s House (鄭家大屋) near Rua da Barra last month, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokeswoman Lei Hon Nei said at a press conference yesterday.
The 64-year-old suspect is surnamed Lao.
According to Lei, the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) notified the Judiciary Police on June 23 that there was an 8-metre-long scratch on the exterior wall of the Mandarin’s House, resulting in a repair estimate of 14,000 patacas. PJ officers scrutinised the nearby CCTV footage and discovered that when a concrete mixer lorry drove past the officially protected edifice the vehicle’s discharging chute scraped along the wall. However, the driver ignored the incident and drove away.
Lei said the Judiciary Police told Lao to report to a police station on Tuesday. Under questioning, Lao admitted that he knew that the lorry’s discharging chute had scraped the wall. However, he decided not to report the case to the police as he didn’t want to assume responsibility for the incident. He told the police that he was willing to compensate the Cultural Affairs Bureau for the repair costs, according to Lei.
The case has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP). Lao faces an aggravated damage charge, according to Lei.
Even though the one-way street next to the wall is very narrow, lorries and other heavy goods vehicles aren’t barred from driving along it.
This file photo taken on Sunday shows the damaged outer wall of the Mandarin’s House. Photo courtesy of TDM
