26TS.14

 

Angkor Wat, northwest tower, 2nd enclosure:

Given the different elements (and striving to remain optimist…), the ad hoc group of experts:

1. Reminds once again the ICC and, in particular the Cambodian authorities, insisting on this point, that the Angkor Wat temple represents unquestionably today, in terms of monument preservation, the focus of greatest urgency on the whole Angkor site. This urgency is related to the spectacular speed with which the decors and carved motifs on its façades and superstructures are deteriorating, as they are continuously exposed to water runoff, infiltration and pooling.
2. Given this deterioration process, it invites the APSARA National Authority to urgently implement, through its DCMA and with the participation of international teams, in particular GACP, a pioneer in this field here and involved for two decades now in protecting this flagship monument of Cambodia’s heritage, and beyond the specific one-off restoration campaigns, a genuine supervision and maintenance program ensuring that:
a. A regular inspection of the different constituent parts of the monument is carried out, using all the modern facilities available today (drones in particular, much more economical than scaffolding, for superstructure examination),
b. The areas suffering the most critically from ongoing and rapid deterioration be pinpointed and their condition updated routinely and systematically, thus identifying the risk zones on the monument.
c. Target as precisely and effectively and therefore as economically as possible, the features requiring specific on-off consolidation and conservation operations.