A large number of abandoned vehicles are increasingly being seen in several locations across Macau. The phenomenon is apparently growing, affecting more locations both in the peninsula and the islands.
Some of the region’s secluded areas are being invaded by a large number of vehicles, some of which are completely abandoned and others which are just in long-term parking. The cars seem abandoned, semi-abandoned or just illegally parked for free.
Local resident Lúcia Lemos recently posted pictures of vehicles parked on the side of the road, some of them already with plants growing around them on social media.
The photos were taken near the entrance of the Taipa Pequena Trail in one area beside the trail walking area were, as she mentioned, “in the ‘old days’ it was not even possible to reach there by car.”
“It is sad and creates visual pollution in a natural place,” she added. “In some cases people are even joking about it as being like sitting a teddy bear on a car,” a situation she considers degrading.
Lemos also noted that “not all vehicles look abandoned. Some are still well kept and look like they are just parked there due to a lack of any other place to park them.”
The Taipa trail is one of the three venues suggested on the website of the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) as places to visit for tourists interested in sports and recreational activities.
In a different location the Times found a similar situation. At the top of Penha Hill the old access road (Rampa da Penha) to the communications transmitter has also been transformed into a cemetery for the cars filling the area.
There the Times spoke with a street cleaner who said, that “the cars had been there already for a very long time,” although he was unable to say exactly for how long. He added that most of them are not exactly parked by their owners but instead by car workshop workers who use the street for temporary parking.
“The cars are to be fixed by the workshops. They park them here until they are needed and then they come and take one and leave another in the same place,” he explained.
Curiously, while visiting the location, the Times found a truck and three staff members of the Transport Bureau (DSAT) on site, although they were apparently not performing any task related to these vehicles.
The Times contacted DSAT regarding the number of abandoned cars, but the bureau did not provide any reply by press time.
Hac Sa car dumping solved with meters
A similar situation of car dumping was reported in December 2014, when it was evident that Hac Sa beach’s public car park was being used by people who wish to dispose of their vehicles.
Many cars could be seen at the car park; some of them were covered in pine needles, others were wrecked cars, and there were even vehicles with DSAT notices on the windshields.
After being questioned by the Times at the time, DSAT said it was verifying car park spaces that had been occupied by the same vehicle for a long period of time, and was planning to install parking meters.
The meters were later installed for most of the car park, and the vehicles stranded there were moved elsewhere.
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