GEORGE TOWN – The custodians of the Unesco World Heritage Site will summon the owner of the Malayan Railway colonial-era building next week, following evidence that its precious Minton tiles were illegally hacked by contractors.
After the George Town Heritage Action Group made available photographs and a video of the purported damage, George Town World Heritage Incorporated (GTWHI) and the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) now plan to call in the owner to ensure it does not happen again.
GTWHI general manager Ang Ming Chee said the owner; identified as Railway Assets Corporation (RAC), who in turn had appointed a fresh lessor or operator of the building, needs to clarify what happened.
It was the operator’s contractors who were alleged to be behind the illegal stripping of tiles from the sprawling building earlier this week, before the heritage action group exposed the alleged transgression.
Ang also said that any contractor appointed to conduct renovations in the core and buffer heritage areas should liaise with GTWHI before carrying out contracting works.
“We give free consultancy services to contractors engaged to do work in the heritage area. They just need to contact us,” she said in an interview.
The affected building was left vacant in 2021 after its previous tenant, the state’s Royal Customs and Excise Department, relocated.
RAC is listed as a government corporation and is not linked to Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd, contrary to what was earlier reported.
Former real estate executive Datuk Seri Sundarajoo Somu is listed as one of RAC’s board directors on its portal.
Ang said that RAC must absorb the responsibility and make sure that the operator and contractor appointed to undertake the renovations must comply fully with heritage procedures and rectify the damages it had inadvertently caused.
The building along China Street Ghaut is located in the prime locality of the 109.38ha core heritage area, and is part of the waterfront preservation area.
China Street Ghaut is the prime address of household institutions such as re-urbanisation specialist Think City Sdn Bhd, the Creative Digital District, and the Penang Science Cluster offices, as well as gastronomic outlets.
It is listed as building number 28 in the list of heritage properties in the area, and the incident offended many quarters in Penang, especially heritage activists such as Khoo Salma Nasution and Mark Lay.
The colonial building was completed in 1909, and was known to local residents as the Federated Malay States Railway Station.
It then served as a waiting hall and eatery for passengers waiting to utilise the rail service, where they would first board the cross-channel ferries before heading to the railway station in Butterworth.
Lay meanwhile lamented GWTHI and MBPP’s slowness.
“We had to alert them. This is unfortunate,” Lay said. – The Vibes, March 18, 2023
