New Macau alerts UN to construction project near lighthouse

The New Macau Association (ANM) sent a letter to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in regard to the government’s approval of the construction of a residence at Calçada do Gaio.
The Macau government recently approved an 81-meter construction limit for the residential project, which reportedly goes against the city’s regulations on the height of buildings around world heritage site Guia Lighthouse.
In 2007, local residents wrote a letter to UNESCO complaining about construction projects around Farol da Guia. UNESCO then issued a warning to the Macau government, which led former Chief Executive Edmund Ho to sign a notice regulating height restrictions on buildings around the site.
ANM hopes UNESCO will pay close attention to the activities of the Macau government and make every effort to prevent the government from destroying the city’s cultural heritage.
ANM President Scott Chiang said the government appears to be bowing to real estate developers and letting commercial benefits take precedence over Macau’s cultural resources. He believes the approval will reduce international societies’ confidence in the Macau government’s protection of world heritage sites.
Chiang also expressed his fear that a historical part of Macau might be eliminated from the UN’s world heritage list.