WORLD Lumbini Project
Buying Buddha? Plans by a Hong Kong-registered private group to build a US$3bn“special development zone”to transform the Nepalese town of Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddhism, into a major religious and cultural site are generating controversy throughout the region By Hu Yinan in Nepal
A
multi-billion-dollar mega-project to develop the sleepy southern Nepalese border town of Lumbini, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has provoked heated debate in the small Himalayan state.
The involvement of transnational, particularly Chinese players in the commercial project, which aims to raise US$3 billion to transform the town where Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism was born some 2,600 years ago into an international tourist hub, has caused significant controversy, with some commentators questioning the developers’ true motivation. The original plan is believed to have been initiated by the Nepalese Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, which in June signed a memorandum of understanding with the Hong Kong-registered private investment group the Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation (APECF), to transform the area into a “special development zone” complete with highways, hotels, tourist centers, power projects and even an airport. In mid-August, NewsChina accompanied representatives from APECF and paid a formal visit to Lumbini. APECF has since refuted allegations that it is directly backed by the Chinese government. However, a string of unanswered issues and complexities surrounding APECF,
“In one respect, it is a cultural, religious project; at the same time, it is also an economic development project.” 38 P38-47Oct2011.indd 38
particularly its history, business interests, and the manner in which it seems to operate, have combined to fuel suspicions.
The Master Plan
According to Xiao Wunan, APECF’s executive vice-chairman and vice-president of the World Buddhist Peace Foundation, “The foundation is willing to work under the guidance of not just the Nepalese government, but also any and all agencies striving to rejuvenate Lumbini.” His statement came as a response to what some Nepalese media reports say are an overlap of interests between the existing master plan for Lumbini and the one proposed by the foundation. The UN and the Nepalese monarchy commissioned Japanese architect Kenzo Tange to design Lumbini’s current master plan, which covers 3 square miles of land, in 1972. Tange completed the plan six years later, and Lumbini was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. The construction of the master plan was meant to be completed in 1995. But very little work has so far been done. Acknowledging this, Majhilal Tharuthanaitha, treasurer of the region’s governing body, the Lumbini Development Trust, said in July: “We have to accept failure on our part in the proper utilization of available funds.” Local newspaper The Kathmandu Post said the Trust had been indulging in “excessive spending on hospitality and unworthy foreign trips.” It cited a recent 15-day US tour by the Trust’s vice chairman and Mod Raj Dotel, the newly resigned Nepalese cultural secretary, which cost US$21,000. Meanwhile, Dip Kumar Upadhyay, former president of the Trust, said a limited budget was the primary problem. Based on the
Nepalese government’s current financial plan for Lumbini, he said the master plan “would take at least another 60 years to complete.” Colin Heseltine, a former Australian diplomat and joint chairman of APECF, told reporters in Lumbini that investment promotion is needed to make things happen in the town. “In one respect, it is a cultural, religious project; at the same time, it is also an economic development project. I think where the foundation can play an important role is to work on the economic, infrastructure development aspect of (the Lumbini project),” commented Heseltine.
Amid the Political Reshuffle
The site of Buddha’s alleged birthplace in Lumbini sits 327 km southwest of Kathmandu and is at its closest point, just 4 km north of the Indian border. It is a relatively affluent part of Nepal, a landlocked nation of 30 million people that is among the world’s least developed countries. According to the World Bank, Nepal’s GDP was US$15 billion in 2010. Nepal is caught between its two vast neighbors, China and India. It shares 1,400 km of mountainous border with the Tibet Autonomous Region and has been a hotbed for anti-China demonstrations by proTibetan independence supporters. Meanwhile, India is home to five million Nepalese and exerts an enormous cultural, historical and political influence on the country. The founder of Nepal’s last monarchy, Prithvi Narayan Shah, described the Himalayan nation as “a yam between two boulders” in the 1700s, an assertion many locals still uphold. For years, India was, as a routine, the destination of every Nepalese prime minister’s first visit after taking office. This changed with the election of former rebel leader and NEWSCHINA I October 2011
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