Unapproved statue ordered for removal

A 30-FOOT replica of Rio de Janeiro’s iconic Christ the Redeemer monument being erected at the Portuguese settlement while its approval was pending has been ordered to be dismantled.

According to a report in China Press yesterday, work on the statue at the Portuguese Square, Malacca is scheduled to be completed by the middle of this month.

On Oct 30, the Malacca Historic City Council served the contractor a notice, giving the latter a week to tear down the statue.

However, the 90% completed piece received a reprieve following an intervention by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron who, responding to an appeal, agreed to look for a solution.

According to the report, there is hope that the statue can stay until after Christmas.

Malacca city councillor Joseph Sta Maria said the statue was erected in conjunction with the coming Christmas celebration at the settlement.

He said the Portuguese Settlement had engaged an engineer to submit an application for its construction to the council in September.

However, to ensure it would be completed in time for Christmas, the contractor started work while awaiting approval for its application, he said, adding that this was the reason for the council to order the statue be dismantled.

Sta Maria said he had sought the assistance of council president Datuk Zainal Hussin and the chief minister, who agreed to look into the residents’ request for the statue to stay at least until the festival is over.

“I agree that we were wrong to start work on the project without the council’s approval. We thank the chief minister for acting swiftly on our appeal,” said Sta Maria, who represents the Christian community in the 500-year-old settlement.

He said he will discuss with leaders of the settlement to decide whether action should be taken against the contractor for jumping the gun.