Penang to draw up clear rules on heritage restoration

GEORGE TOWN, July 25 – Penang has instructed its local authorities and George Town World Heritage Inc (GTWHI) to develop clear guidelines on heritage building restoration works in the state.

State executive councillor Chow Kon Yeow said this was to standardise what remedial works are permitted for structures gazetted as heritage buildings.

“Now we do not have any clear guidelines as the guidelines given to developers were on a case by case basis,” he said in a press conference at Komtar today.

The guideline will cover both buildings within the Unesco world heritage site of George Town and also outside of the zone.

He said clear guidelines would eliminate allegations of double standards in council approvals for restoration works on heritage buildings.

“We don’t want others to accuse us of rejecting an application because we don’t like their face or approving other application because we like their faces,” he added.

Chow said the local council has a list of heritage buildings on the island it has complied since the 1980s, with the new guidelines applicable to all these buildings.

Currently, the GTWHI is also taking an inventory of heritage buildings in the state to add to the list.

The council currently does not have any fixed guidelines for development and works on heritage buildings outside the heritage zone.

Only heritage buildings within the zone are protected and subjected to strict development and restoration guidelines.

Earlier, Chow responded to accusations by Gerakan that the council failed to safeguard a heritage building along Macalister Road outside the zone, which was dismantled during the construction of a high rise mixed development project.

The building, believed to be built in the early 1900s, was dismantled and will be reconstructed after the piling works for the project are completed, Chow explained.

“It is a common, acceptable practice to dismantle heritage buildings and reconstruct it to save it from threats of developments,” he said, adding that the building was already in a deplorable condition before it was dismantled.