GEORGE TOWN, Sept 28 — The Penang government has yet to establish a state heritage council as required under the regulation amendment to the Penang Heritage Enactment 2011 that was gazetted in 2016.

Penang Heritage Commissioner Rosli Nor said the council must be set up to advise the state government on matters relating to the preservation, conservation and protection of cultural or natural heritage.

According to the enactment, the Penang Heritage Council is to be chaired by the Penang chief minister and has the authority to propose policies on heritage, coordinate with the commission on preservation, conservation and protection of cultural or natural heritage, monitor the development plan for heritage sites and coordinate any issues related to natural and cultural heritage.

Rosli said he can propose sites to be gazetted by the state as state heritage but the final approval must be from the state heritage council.

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“We don’t have a state heritage council. It is not established yet. We are still waiting for the state exco to approve the establishment of the heritage council,” he said when met at the launch of the public viewing of the Special Area Plan (Amendment) for George Town World Heritage site at Komtar here today.

“So, this means, all items we have identified are as part of an inventory for now, we can’t proceed to gazette these items as state heritage yet,” he added.

Section 16 of Penang Heritage Enactment states that the state heritage commissioner can declare any cultural heritage and natural heritage as state heritage but that the commissioner needs to coordinate with the council in relation to the administration, preservation and conservation of heritage.

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“Without a state heritage council, we cannot gazette any sites, not even the chief minister can approve the gazetting of a site as state heritage,” Rosli explained.

He said the process of gazetting a site as state heritage needed at least two layers of approvals, first the state heritage council and after that, the final approval by the state exco.

Rosli said he has identified a list of sites to be gazetted as state heritage and that there are plans to gazette Kapitan Chung Keng Quee and his son, Chung Thye Phin’s tombs as state heritage sites.

“We are proposing these two tombs to be gazetted due to the historical significance of the two Kapitans,” he said.

Keng Quee was the largest tin mine owner and employer of labour in the then Malaya. In 1887, he was the largest tin producer in Perak.

He was dubbed as the founder and administrator of modern Taiping and was appointed as Kapitan China by the British in 1877.

He was also well known for his philanthropy where he donated generously to schools, temples, associations and various charities.

His son, Thye Phin, served in the Perak State Council till 1927 and was also known as the last Kapitan Cina of Perak.

Last month, Keng Quee’s third wife, Foo Teng Nyong’s remains were exhumed and her tomb demolished by the current land owner which led to a huge uproar among heritage advocates.

Keng Quee’s and Thye Phin’s tombs were located in the same area as Foo’s tombs but it is believed that the land where Keng Quee’s tomb is located is still under the Chung family.

However, the land that Thye Phin’s tomb is located is now privately owned and there were concerns that it may face a similar fate as Foo’s tomb if the landowner decides to develop the land.

Malay Mail has contacted state exco for tourism and creative economy Yeoh Soon Hin for comment.