Myanmar Junta Criticized Over Mandalay Palace Park Plan

via The Irrawady, 13 October 2021: A new construction along the walls of the Mandalay Palace will violate an existing law protecting ancient monuments, but military regimes are not known for caring much about heritage.

Conservationists have criticized the military regime’s plan to create a public recreation area alongside the walls of Mandalay Palace in Myanmar’s former royal capital, saying the scheme will do more harm than good to the country’s cultural heritage.

Work on the park began earlier this month, despite the fact that the palace is Mandalay’s landmark building. The project reportedly includes playgrounds, a car park and landscaping with non-indigenous plants, all to be built alongside the palace’s walls and moat.

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The park is also a blatant violation of the 2015 Law on the Preservation and Protection of Ancient Buildings, which requires a minimum distance of 120 feet between new and ancient buildings and specifies that any new building close to a heritage structure should not exceed 30 feet in height.

Source: Myanmar Junta Criticized Over Mandalay Palace Park Plan