The work was discovered recently

Two thousand stairs and more than a kilometer of concrete road have been illegally built in the Trang An landscape complex in Ninh Binh province. 

The work was discovered recently, many months after it was built.

Trang An, covering an area of 6,172ha in Ninh Binh City, about 90 kilometers to the southeast of Hanoi, is a spectacular landscape of valleys of limestone karst peaks, a favorite destination of travellers.

Prof Nguyen Chi Ben, member of the National Heritage Council, said: “It is inexplicable why authorities at different levels could not discover such a big work when it was under construction.”

He said the road needs to be removed, but the work could seriously impact the Trang An heritage site, he said. 

Expressing his concern about illegal work at Trang An, he said heritage sites will be excluded from the world’s heritage list if UNESCO discover violations of its conventions.

A heritage site in Germany was excluded by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organsiation ) from the list of world heritage sites because of violations in protection.

“The violations are more serious as Trang An is a mixed cultural and natural property,” he said, emphasizing that loose management over the world’s natural heritage site has seriously affected national honor.

The protection of the Trang An heritage is I  accordance with UNESCO's 1972 Convention, one of the longest-running conventions on world heritage with many strict regulations.

Dang Van Bai, deputy chair of the Vietnam Cultural Heritage Association, said that ‘this is an extremely serious offence’.

“This is a violation of both cultural heritage laws and international conventions which will affect the nation’s prestige,” he said, adding that it must removed immediately and completed before the meeting of the World Heritage Council, scheduled to take place in late June or early July 2018.

Under the Construction Law, local authorities must take responsibility for illegal construction works in their localities. Sources said that a state management agency had sent a dispatch asking to stop the work, but construction still continued.

The Trang An Tourism Complex in northern Ninh Binh Province was declared a World Culture and Nature Heritage site by the UNESCO in 2014.

It is the first world site in the country combing both natural and cultural aspects.

RELATED NEWS

Amazing aerial views of Trang An Tourism Complex

Trang An tourism complex - A journey to earn UNESCO recognition

Thien Nhien