Regarding its emergency project to repair a 28 metres long section of an old city wall which was damaged by a landslide at a construction site on Estrada de S. Francisco last June, Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) President Leong Wai Man said yesterday that after consulting a third-party professional consultancy firm, the consensus is that a small, five-metre-long part of the base of the wall which was not removed during the emergency repairs last year still poses a safety hazard and that the potentially dangerous part needs to be demolished in a timely manner.
According to Leong, the Public Works Bureau (DSOP) has already completed the preparations of the demolition project for remodelling the slope as a result of the landslide.
Leong made the remarks during a press briefing after this year’s third regular closed-door meeting of the government-appointed Cultural Heritage Committee at the Macau Cultural Centre in Nape.
Leong underlined that once the five-metre-long demolition is completed, a hand-dug caisson* will be built to strengthen the old city wall, after which the Cultural Affairs Bureau will carry out, in due course, the restoration work in line with the rammed earth construction method – a process of ramming a mixture of aggregates, like gravel, sand, silt and clay into formwork to create walls – on the old city wall with its original structural composite material. However, Leong noted, the appearance of the restored city wall will necessarily be a bit different to the original one.
According to Wu Chou Kit, a member of the Cultural Heritage Council, the Public Works Bureau suggested that close attention be paid to the drainage during the restoration, in order to avoid a large-scale impact on the existing topography of the surrounding areas.
In view of a cultural heritage evaluation procedure of the “fourth batch” of six heritage sites and the exercise of pre-emptive rights relating to four government’s listed real-estate properties, Wu said in the press briefing that the members of the committee agreed with the bureau’s decision not to exercise pre-emptive rights for four pieces of real-estate properties, i.e., the government will not take priority to purchase the properties. Wu quoted the members of the committee as saying that the government should collect more detailed information on any assessed real-estate properties in the future and restore them according to the historical facts so that residents can gain a better understanding of the historic buildings.
IC to launch activities celebrating Cultural & Natural Heritage Day
Meanwhile, in celebration of the nation’s annual Cultural and Natural Heritage Day earmarked for the second Saturday of June, according to the press briefing, the Cultural Affairs Bureau will roll out a raft of commemorative activities, such as “Genesis and Spirit - Hainan Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition” and “Cultural Heritage Architecture Experience Workshops”, as well as the special opening of the Guia Lighthouse and free admission to the Macau Museum, among others.
This year’s Cultural and Natural Heritage Day is commemorated on Saturday.
* An enclosure from which water can be expelled.
Cultural Heritage Council members Wu Chou Kit (left) and Choi Kin Long (right), as well as Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) President Leong Wai Man pose during yesterday’s press briefing after this year’s third regular closed-door meeting of the government-appointed Cultural Heritage Committee, at the Macau Cultural Centre in Nape.
