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Decades of research and protection of the Lukeng bunker have seen insufficient research and protection

2021-03-09T23:13:35.090Z


The machine gun fort and the observatory on the head of Lujing Mountain in Shatoujiao were rated as Grade II historical buildings during 2009. However, after ten years of research, the research team of the School of Architecture of the University of Hong Kong found that the machine gun fort complex has a total of 7 machine gun forts.


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Written by: Commentary Editing Room

2021-03-10 07:00

Last update date: 2021-03-10 07:00

The machine gun fort and the observation platform on the Lujing Mountain in Shatoujiao were rated as Grade II historical buildings during 2009. However, after ten years of research, the research team of the School of Architecture of the University of Hong Kong found that the machine gun fort complex has a total of 7 machine gun forts, There are 6 satellite gun forts that can only accommodate one person, and the gun forts are connected by trenches.

The research team found that its scale is much larger than that described by the Ancient Consultative Conference. Coupled with the construction background of the building, the historical value of the building may have been underestimated at the time of rating.

The historical value of the building may have been underestimated at the time of rating.

(Information Picture/Photographed by Li Zetong)

Grade II historical buildings may not reflect value

According to the information of the Ancient Admiralty Association, the building complex was built during the Japanese occupation and might be used to strengthen border defenses and resist the Allied attack from the northeast of the New Territories. According to the memory of neighboring villagers, the original residents were forced to participate in the construction at that time.

However, for the site investigation, the ancient reference meeting was obviously insufficient. The map data of the ancient reference meeting only recorded 12 places in the building complex, but there were actually 14 gun forts on the mountain, and even the report clearly stated that it was not correct. The machine gun fort was inspected in detail, so the plan, the thickness of the structure, the entrance and the position of the gun eye were unknown at the time.

The data only refers to the historical significance that many Japanese-occupied buildings have been demolished after World War II (such as the Chung Ling Pagoda), and wartime military buildings were also rare in Hong Kong, but the buildings were abandoned after the war in disrepair.

However, according to the research conducted by the Hong Kong University team, this building complex represents not only the deployment strategy of the Japanese army in Hong Kong. It may also be part of the history of the Hong Kong and Kowloon Detachment of the Dongjiang Column when it fought against Japan. The establishment of the squad reflects that the infiltration or harassment of the guerrillas in the Sha Tau Kok area threatened the Japanese army.

The research team also believes that this place is the best military site left by the Japanese in Hong Kong.

All of the above factors make the historical value of the Luk Keng Machine Gun Fort may far exceed the original rating of the Ancient Consultative Council.

Lai Weicong, a professor in the Department of Real Estate and Construction at the University of Hong Kong, said that it took them ten years to complete the research, which identified the location of the facilities and studied the architectural features.

(Photo by Li Zetong)

More than a thousand buildings are difficult to follow up and conservation problems value reflection

The machine gun fort building group was only awarded “Class 2 Historic Building” at the beginning, which means that the building group “has special value and must be selectively preserved.” However, the rating itself is only for reference and was officially declared as a historic building Before "tentative monuments" or "historical sites", the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance did not actually restrict the alteration or demolition of the complex.

Fortunately, the building complex is located in a country park. In addition, the country park does not involve private ownership. The land itself is managed by the government department, so that there is no large-scale project on the site, and the Bishop’s Hill Reservoir or Jingxian Lane will not be allowed The tragedy repeats itself in Luk Keng.

In March 2009, the Antiquities Advisory Committee (Antiquities Advisory Committee) announced the recommended rating of 1,444 historical buildings in Hong Kong. Subsequently, it also formulated the evaluation order of each historical building based on the classification of its first, second, and third-class historical buildings.

But just as Professor Li Weicong of the Department of Real Estate and Construction of the University of Hong Kong pointed out that the research team spent nearly 10 years studying the machine gun fort complex, but the committee had to deal with many historical buildings at the same time. "They all sit in the office building and look at the pictures." , There may not even be site visits.

It is of course too demanding to ask the Ancient Advisory Council to follow up on many historical buildings as rigorous as the results of the research team over the past ten years. However, how the government can change the current situation of follow-up studies and inadequate protection of historic sites afterwards is also worthwhile The government rethinks.

There are many historical buildings in Hong Kong. The discovery of Luk Keng may indicate that the staff of the Ancient Consultative Council alone cannot conduct rigorous research on 1,444 historical buildings.

(Information Picture/Photographed by Li Zetong)

Insufficient rating follow-up protection needs to be improved

There are many historical buildings in Hong Kong. The discovery of Luk Keng may indicate that the staff of the Ancient Consultative Council alone cannot conduct rigorous research on 1,444 historical buildings.

In addition to directly increasing the manpower of the Ancient Consultative Council, the Hong Kong government can still start from the aspect of academic funding. By increasing the academic funding of related research fields, it encourages scholars to help follow up many historical buildings that have been graded but have blurred backgrounds, so as to avoid further conservation in Hong Kong. The fish that slipped through the net.

Because its importance was unearthed more than ten years later, the protection of these historic buildings by the society was also reluctantly delayed for ten years. At present, the hills are overgrown with weeds, soil erosion has occurred, and there have been mountain fires and tourists destroying them in the past. , Li Weicong said that part of the structure has fallen.

Simply grading historical buildings as "Level 2" is not enough to encourage government departments or private organizations to protect buildings. Therefore, the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance is amended to extend some of the current provisions to historical buildings that have been rated. This is also the government's responsibility. What it should be.

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Source: hk1

All news articles on 2021-03-09

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