IC threatens legal action against mainland developer

Ung Vai Meng

The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) president Ung Vai Meng said that the authorities would not rule out legal action against the parties who placed a large-scale advertising billboard in front of the Ruins of St Paul’s on Thursday.
The billboard was intended to promote a residential development project in Tanzhou, a Zhongshan town next to Zhuhai. The candidates of a beauty pageant were also seen posing in front of the board.
The Cultural Heritage Protection Law has stated that it is prohibited to use certified heritage buildings for commercial promotion. Ung said that after the IC was alerted to the situation, IC staff were dispatched to the scene and asked the parties responsible to remove the billboard and leave.
“For Macau, this is a relatively rare scenario. This incident is a seriously alarming for us. We hope that other tourist spots such as the Guia Lighthouse and the Mandarin House will prevent this type of incident from happening [again],” he said.
The president indicated that the IC is currently studying the case and reserves the rights to launch legal action against the parties involved.
Meanwhile, the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau stated that it had not approved the promotional activity, which is suspected to be in violation of the General Regulations Governing Public Places. The bureau added that it had previously prosecuted several illegal promotional activities at the Ruins of St Paul’s.