New lighting for night visits at Angkor Wat "will not damage" site

Jun 3, 2009, 9:46 GMT

   Phnom Penh - A Cambodian government official on Wednesday rejected claims that the installation of new lights at the 12th-century Angkor Wat temple would cause damage to the building's structure.

   Phay Siphan, spokesman of the Cambodian Council of Ministers spokesman, told reporters in the northern town of Siem Reap that reports of large sections of stone being removed for the lighting installation were false.

   'This accusation that new holes were created simply is not true,' he said. 'The installation will not involve any new holes being drilled.'

   He said an official from UNESCO had visited Angkor Wat and approved the new lights, which are part of a drive to attract evening visitors to the temple.

   The Apsara Authority, which administers the temple and the nearby Angkor Thom complex, last month announced that visiting hours to the temple could be extended to 8:30 pm.

   Visitors are currently asked to leave the site at sunset.

   Ahmed Bennis, a French lighting expert who was commissioned to install the new lights, said there would be no structure alternations made to the UNESCO World Heritage-listed site.

   'These new lights will use solar power and they will not be built into the structure of the temple,' he said. 'Because the lights are powered by solar there will be no electricity cables at the site.'

   The extended visiting hours are part of efforts to boost tourism at Angkor Wat, which is suffering its first slump since the start of Cambodia's decade-long tourism boom.

   The Tourism Ministry on Monday called on travel agents and hotel owners in Siem Reap, the closest town to Angkor Wat, to lower their prices by 20 per cent.

   The call came after new figures revealed a 14-per-cent drop in tourists visiting Siem Reap during the first four months of this year compared to the same period last year.

   The new opening hours and lighting were part of discussions at an annual two-day forum on the Angkor site in Siem Reap, attended by government officials, UNESCO staff and local non-governmental organizations.