|
PENANG (Bernama): Four development projects planned in George Town may not have to be scrapped to avoid the town from being stripped of its status as World Heritage Site by Unesco.
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said negotiations could still be held with Unesco and also the developers who had yet to start their projects, such as Bintang Holdings and Asia Global Business. "If all the projects are cancelled, the state government will request the Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry to pay compensation to the developers," he told reporters on Thursday. According to reports four high-rise hotels have been planned in George Town, two in the heritage core zone and the other two in the buffer zone. Lim said the four projects were approved before the town made it into the Unesco World Heritage List on July 7. "One received the approval from the current government while the other three from the previous government," he said. He also said Penang had introduced guidelines for the conservation of heritage buildings which were approved by the State Planning Committee on Aug 23. "Reviews had also been made based on the Submission Dossier so that the state government could submit the Heritage Management Plan dan Guidelines For Conservation Areas & Heritage Buildings. "The state government had forwarded all the requirements for assessment and officially, the guidelines and heritage management plan took effect when George Town was recognised as a heritage site," he said. All these, he said, was to deal with the issue of development at heritage sites. Various efforts would be made to improve and strengthen the guidelines and heritage management plan so that George Town remained as World Heritage Site, he said. Meanwhile, State tourism development, culture, arts and heritage committee chairman Danny Law Heng Kiang said the state government would set guidelines for developers wishing to build in George Town's Unesco World Heritage Site. He said the state government discouraged developers from putting up high-rise buildings in the heritage core and buffer zones. "If the developers were to build tall building in the area, we would set guidelines disallowing modern-designed structures in the area," he told reporters after officiating the Forum Strengthen George Town as Unesco World Heritage Site in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) on Thursday. He said abandoned and vacant old building which needed renovation must also follow old architectural designs suitable to the surrounding area and Unesco guidelines. "Those wishing to invest in George Town's Unesco World Heritage Site must also be aware of Unesco guidelines as the listing by Unesco is a long-term tourism attraction," he said. He added that the local government working and planning committees would hold a meeting to discuss the issue, earliest by next month, to decide on the guidelines. A prominent USM researcher from the school of humanities, Professor Madya Mahani Musa, who is also the forum panelist, said the Penang Government must begin to preserve the heritage, instead of demolishing old buildings to set up new ones. "The government must identify those abandoned and vacant buildings in the heritage site and act quickly to preserve the area," she told Bernama. Mahani, who began her research in Penang since the 1988, said there should not be any tearing down of old shops or houses without proper reason at the site. - Bernama
 |
Subscribe RSS
The Blogs 
