Developer admits moving reportedly stolen God of Land statue

The developer’s lawyer Ms Manuela António

A local real estate developer declared that the missing God of Land statue from the Beco Central was not stolen, as indicated before by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC), but only temporarily moved away, in order to be protected from the demolition of two houses in front of it.
The developer, who has requested to remain anonymous, told the Times that the statue, comprised of a set of stones, was moved to an idle construction site that he owns in the Ponte Horta area and has been well kept.
“I’m local and I follow the folk beliefs in God of Land. All we know was not to damage the altar, as we began to clean and demolish the old houses that were in front of it. We wouldn’t want to offend it. After the completion of the new building, we’ll perform a religious ritual to invite the God of Land statue back,” he explained.
Accompanied by two lawyers, the developer confirmed that the altar was moved away in September without informing the authorities, as he was unaware of the statue’s historic value.
“By the time we bought the houses, we didn’t notice there was a statue, as it was underneath a bunch of garbage and there were black garbage bags littering the yard,” he described.
The developer further acknowledged that the temporary removal of such religious items is a common practice amongst Macau developers.
“It is a usual procedure with other contractors: whenever they have to make this kind of demolishing, normally they take the stones – because it’s something you can move – and then they put the stones back,” explained his lawyer Ms Manuela António. “This is exactly what happened in this case”.
When asked if the developer was unaware that the statue was public property placed in a public space, the lawyer responded that the object was “a set of stones” kept in a very poor condition.
“There was even a discarded fridge on top of it. It was not well-
kept. They even cleaned the stone because it was very dirty,” she emphasized, suggesting that the government should preserve the relic with a heritage list and put a sign there to inform people of its value.
According to the Cultural Heritage Protection Law, all relics with cultural value are under its protection, whether they are listed as heritage or not. Once a valuable relic is under threat, the IC can launch an evaluation procedure immediately so that the item can be protected as much as a listed heritage relic would.
Since the new law came into effect this March, the IC has replied to over 900 applications involving construction plans, as well as issuing 26 injunctions against construction. Regarding the missing statue, the bureau has reported a theft to the police.
Ms António told the Times that the developer hasn’t contacted the police so far and would talk with the IC first.
“We are angry with the IC, why they didn’t contact the house owners to inform that it [the statue] was something special or important,” she stressed, “because fortunately, they are Chinese and they understand [its value]; if they were Europeans or non-Chinese, they probably would have destroyed it”.
“We don’t have any concerns over any penalties or consequences, because there will be no consequences,” she added, “they shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions before contacting the house owners.”
The lawyer further suggested that such a situation shows a legal loophole, as it’s not clear how the construction contractors should deal with the relics. “If they identify it’s something important or have doubts if it’s something that should be kept better, I would suggest them to consult the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau
(DSSOPT) first,” she said.

ung vai meng: ‘a criminal case’

The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) released the latest update on the missing God of Land statue yesterday evening, confirming that the bureau has heard the explanation of the developer who moved the statue away, and forwarded his lawyer’s letter to the Judiciary Police (PJ). “We’ve informed the update of this incident to the PJ and forwarded the letter we received for the PJ to handle,” said the bureau. “At this point, the case is entering the investigation phase, we will cooperate with the PJ actively.” Previously the IC president Ung Vai Meng said that the stolen statue case was being investigated as a criminal case. “I believe such a stone won’t sell for a lot of money, but the theft shows a poor attitude or awareness. It’s unacceptable that someone would violate people’s beliefs and take the statue away,” he said this week.