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| Choong: Penang could compensate developers or lose Unesco Heritage status |
| Written by Regina William | |||
| Tuesday, 31 March 2009 16:36 | |||
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Penang Heritage Trust (PHT) president Choong Sim Poey expressed surprise that the Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) could have allowed such a major slip-up in failing to apply Unesco heritage guidelines on the four building applications which have come under scrutiny by Unesco. The four buildings are the Boustead Holdings Sdn Bhd project in Weld Quay and the Asia Global Business project in the core zone while the E & O Hotel expansion and Bintang Holdings projects are in the buffer zone. All four were approved before Penang was declared a Unesco World Heritage site on July 7 last year, three by the previous state government and one by the current administration. Once the listing was made official on July 7, the dossier submitted to Unesco which contains the 18 metre/five storey height restriction was to come into effect. "Regular meetings of the State Heritage Conservation Committee since 2000 under chairmanship of previous Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon were fully aware of them during discusions on the conservation of the heritage city and all relevant state and MPPP officers including REHDA and PHT representatives were part of this committee. "Losing the Unesco recognition will probably affect all businessses in the city including the value of those properties these developers are hoping to build. "While they could have been misguided by the planning officers but knowing the present predicament, they should seriously reconsider their options now," Choong added. He warned that somewhere along the line, a price will have to be paid for these mistakes; either in losing the Unesco status or compensating the developers. "The state government and the people will have to decide which is the greater price to pay," he added.
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