UNESCO grill Vietnam on Trang An stairway

Vietnam faces questions about an illegal walkway built inside the UNESCO heritage site of Trang An in Ninh Binh Province, said Pham Thi Thanh Huong, Culture Programme Coordinator of UNESCO Vietnam.

Vietnam faces questions about an illegal walkway built inside the UNESCO heritage site of Trang An in Ninh Binh Province, said Pham Thi Thanh Huong, Culture Programme Coordinator of UNESCO Vietnam.

 

Culture Programme Coordinator of UNESCO Vietnam Pham Thi Thanh Huong

According to Huong, the walkway was built inside a strictly-protected area which should have been preserved almost intact. However, the investor built and dug through the mountain in a short time.

"The Inspectorate of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism already concluded that the unlicensed construction, which lacks an environmental impact assessment or user safety, must be removed," she said.

 

Illegal walkway in Trang An

On March 16, UNESCO Vietnam had worked with Vice Chairman of Ninh Binh Province Dinh Chung Phung and also agreed with the decision to quickly remove the walkway. The provincial authorities have set up an inspection team to explore how to remove the construction.

UNESCO has been informed about the walkway and is reviewing the heritage preservation work across Vietnam and in Trang An in particular. Huong said if Vietnam didn't remove the walkway, UNESCO would make the proposal to do so.

The 42nd UNESCO annual meeting of this year will be held in Bahrain in late June.

"I'm sure the walkway will be discussed and the member countries will question Vietnam over the management and punishment in this case," Huong said. "During the meeting, municipal leaders all promised to strictly deal with the case and restore the environment."

The 1-km-long walkway has many concrete pillars and over 2,000 steps. The construction was not licensed and opened to visitors after the Tet Holiday.