GEORGE TOWN, Oct 17 — Penang must gazette the 200-year-old Penang Free School (PFS) and Masjid Batu Uban as state heritage sites before the federal government can follow suit, said Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz.

"The moment these become state heritage, the next stage, we will gazette it; on my part, it is not a problem at all,” he said when asked in a press conference whether his ministry has gazetted the two sites.

Last week, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng wrote to Nazri asking to gazette the school and mosque as national heritage sites under the National Heritage Act 2005.

PFS, the oldest school in Malaysia, was set up in 1816 by Rev Robert Sparke Hutchings at its original location at Farquhar Street before it was relocated to Jalan Masjid Negeri in 1928.

Penang has to gazette the Batu Uban mosque as a state heritage site first before the federal government can gazette it as a national heritage site, said tourism and culture minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz.

The Masjid Batu Uban was founded in 1734 by Mohamad Salleh who was better known as Nakhoda Nan Intan (Maharaja Nan Intan Ibnihajar Al-Marhum Tengku Patie Nan Sebatang).

Mohamad Salleh migrated from Pagar Ruyung, Sumatra to Penang and it was recorded that he had started one of the earliest settlements in Penang at Kampung Batu Uban.