More than 40 heritage buildings in the capital are in a state of
neglect and disrepair, the Beijing News reported on Wednesday. And
it's often hard to do anything about the problem because the rules
on penalties and compensation are unclear.
The newspaper said that the city's cultural relics department
had asked the tenants of 20 heritage buildings to correct the
problems within a year.
In some cases, tenants haven't installed proper facilities to
protect the old buildings, made of wood and bricks, from fire and
lightning, said Hao Dongchen, the city cultural relic department
official.
"In one heritage building, the former residence of a prince, we
found about 160 gas cylinders being stored by residents. If one
explodes, it will be disastrous," Hao said.
Several heritage buildings were not properly maintained and
residents had also added new buildings on the sites, which
threatened the old structures, he said.
Among 20 newly added heritage buildings, half are occupied by
central government departments, Hao said.
The authority had denounced residents in 34 other heritage
buildings in past two years but only five old buildings had been
fully repaired.
The authority can not effectively push owners and tenants to
speed up repairs because of a lack of detailed regulations, said Yu
Ping, deputy head of the city cultural relic department.
"Some heritage buildings are overcrowded but without clear
compensation rules, it is hard to move people out," he said.
The capital city has identified more than 320 heritage buildings
under state and municipal protection. As of 2005, about 60 percent
were inhabited or being used as offices.
(Xinhua News Agency February 20, 2008)