GEORGE TOWN – The city’s Unesco World Heritage Site status needs to be revisited, with all stakeholders “re-educated” about what conservation here means, said Think City Sdn Bhd managing director Hamdan Abdul Majeed.
After 15 years of Unesco status for George Town, people need to reassess the returns if heritage sites are conserved and preserved, while developers should learn to partner with civil society instead of working against each other, the specialist in urban planning policy said to The Vibes.
Awareness of heritage needs is found wanting here, especially among the stakeholders,” he said when asked about the latest uproar by conservationists on damage to yet another heritage site.
The latest episode involves the Malayan Railway colonial-era building on China Street Ghaut, where early-19th-century Minton tiles were damaged by a contractor.
Another conservationist working at the federal level, who did not want to be named, said stakeholders need to come together and find the best way to fulfil George Town’s status as a world heritage site instead of blaming each other.
“It is alarming that after 15 years, heritage activists, custodians, and the private sector here cannot come to terms, and seem to be at odds with each other. It is displeasing to the public eye,” said the conservator.
He echoed calls by local conservationists that Penang must not only preserve heritage properties in the core and buffer zones of the Unesco site, but also guard other “intangible” heritage treasures such as food, arts, culture, and crafts.
Conservationists here have been calling for the recognition of a “tertiary zone” as well, so that heritage buildings outside the core and buffer zones are also preserved.
The Malayan Railway building on China Street Ghaut is within the heritage zone, and is also a Category One building, which means that only a minimal level of renovation is permitted.
Penang Heritage Commissioner Rosli Nor said he had been misinformed about the work done on the site, and subsequent information found the damage worse than initially thought.
The building’s owner, Railway Assets Corp, has been summoned by the custodian of George Town’s heritage status, George Town World Heritage Incorporated, as well as Penang Island City Council (MBPP) to explain the damage.
Since last year, more heritage sites have reported damage as new development takes place on land-scarce Penang island.
The spate of such incidents show that heritage stakeholders here are “disunited”, resulting in disjointed efforts to protect George Town’s heritage status, the federal conservator said.
The 138-year-old tomb of Foo Teng Nyong, the third wife of Kapitan Chung Keng Quee, located off Fettes Park, was demolished illegally by a developer last year.
Chung is said to be the founder of Taiping and is an important figure in Penang’s colonial history.
A bungalow on Jalan Clove Hall was also demolished after the owner obtained approval from MBPP.
The demolition was said to be necessary due to the rotting wooden beams of the structure, which was already in a state of disrepair.
But George Town Heritage Action co-founder Mark Lay said the tomb and bungalow should have been protected despite being outside the heritage zone, as they are still “precious pieces of Penang’s history”.
Penang Heritage Trust vice-president Khoo Salma Nasution meanwhile said skyscrapers and newer buildings outside the core heritage zone have ruined the panoramic value of properties within the zone.
Earlier this year, it was reported that the Art Deco-themed Rex Cinema in Kinta Lane is scheduled to be demolished to make way for a 27-storey condominium. – The Vibes, March 19, 2023
