Heritage | Committee opposes listing shipyards as cultural relics

The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) has not yet made a final decision on the Lai Chi Vun shipyards’ classification, IC Director Mok Ian Ian said yesterday.

At the current stage, the evaluation process concerning the shipyards is still in motion, according to Mok. A consultation summary report on the shipyards will be published next week.

Mok also revealed that during the public consultation concerning the shipyards’ classification, 80 percent of the public suggested that the shipyards should be listed as cultural relics.

On Tuesday, Macau’s Cultural Heritage Committee held a plenary meeting, with 17 committee members in attendance. Of them, 14 disagreed with listing the shipyards as cultural relics.

Members of the committee generally agreed that the Lai Chi Van shipyards need to be activated and reused so as to better extend the value of the properties in terms of landscape and shipyard techniques, and solidify its role as a cultural resource, thereby achieving a greater benefit for Macau.

Some of the members are worried that if the shipyards are declared cultural relics, the properties will be included under the city’s cultural heritage protection law, which will make activation and utilization of the shipyard properties very difficult.

After the discussion, most of the committee members did not agree that the shipyards are cultural relics, instead focusing on benefit to society.

Most of the committee members are also worried that if the shipyards become listed as cultural relics, a large amount of public money will be used to repair them.

Later, the IC will complete a comprehensive analysis of the opinions gathered during the public consultation and the views of the committee members.

Only after the analysis is done will the IC make a final decision concerning the classification of Lai Chi Van shipyards.