Heritage | Lai Chi Vun shipyards listed as immovable assets

The old Lai Chi Vun shipyards have been classified as an immovable asset, the Chief Executive Council announced on Wednesday.

“The SAR government has carried out a public consultation, in accordance with the law, on cultural heritage protection. Most of the opinions collected acknowledge the cultural interest of the Lai Chi Vun shipyards and agree with the classification of the shipyards as an immovable asset [and], the Cultural Heritage Committee agreed with the opinions,” a CE council statement reads.

The statement indicates that no party besides the Macau government has control over the site. Furthermore, the shipyards have been placed under public domain, therefore the consultation results do not include the opinions of any other party. 

In accordance with the city’s cultural heritage protection law, the SAR government also established a buffer area for the shipyards, which was included in formal administrative regulations. 

“The draft [of the administrative regulation] proposes to classify the […] Lai Chi Vun shipyards as a ‘location,’ proposes to set up a buffer area for the shipyards, and proposes to protect them,” the CE council statement reads.

On March 22, 2017, a group of residents delivered an application to the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) requesting the bureau initiate assessment procedures regarding the shipyards’ classification as an immovable asset.

The IC, after analysis, decided that the shipyards met the evaluation criteria of the cultural heritage protection law, whereby the bureau launched the assessment procedure on Dec. 12, 2017.

As recently as the 1950s, the coastal villages were thriving in Macau. Historical accounts indicate that at the time there were around 10,000 fishermen and over 30 shipyards in Macau, many of them in Lai Chi Vun.

After suffering from regional competition and the surge of the gaming industry in Macau, the industry collapsed in the 1990s.

Categories Macau