'Projects will not jeopardise Georgetown's heritage status'

Former Penang executive councillor in charge of tourism Teng Chang Yeow believes that the three high rise hotels approved by the previous state government will not jeopardise Georgetown’s status as a Unesco heritage site.

Teng, who is also Gerakan secretary-general, said the previous state planning committee approved the hotel projects based on the amended building guidelines submitted to Unesco in January this year to Unesco’s Paris Desk, the international body that handles all heritage accolade proposals, two years ago.

Moreover, he said Unesco already knew about the projects after a briefing by state officials to a visiting Unesco delegation led by Professor David Lung to Penang last August.

Teng, who was then chairperson of the state preparatory committee for Unesco’s world heritage listing of Georgetown, revealed that the visiting professor did not object nor raise concerns about the projects during the briefing.

"Since the projects were approved based on guidelines accepted by Unesco, I believe the existence of those hotels in the heritage zone would not risk Georgetown being removed from Unesco’s heritage list during the world body’s annual evaluation and appraisal," he told a press conference at Penang Gerakan headquarters today.

Georgetown was listed, alongside ancient trading port Malacca, as a heritage zone by Unesco on July 7.

However, Unesco regional director for Asia Pacific Richard Engelhardt, local heritage groups and the media have raised concerns that the city’s heritage status was at risk following approvals given to four high rise hotel projects by past and present governments prior to the accolade.

Previous state gov't approved three projects

Two separate projects are in a core heritage zone – eight to 10-storey hotels (52.7m) by Asia Global Business and Boustead Holdings Sdn Bhd, while two others – a 17-storey extension (84.47m) of the E & O Hotel and a 23-storey hotel (84.47m) by Bintang Holdings Sdn Bhd – are in buffer zone.

The previous Barisan Nasional government approved the first three projects while the current Pakatan Rakyat government passed the final one.

Teng assertion that the guidelines submitted and accepted by Unesco were the yardstick used to approve the first three projects indicates that fourth project approved by the current government would not also jeorpadise the city heritage status either.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has stressed that the Bintang Holdings project in Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah was approved based on the same guidelines, which were outlined by the Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP).

The new guidelines submitted to Unesco were an amended version of the original local authority guidelines enforced in 1996.

The amended guidelines, which were stringent regulations, with several exemptions to the rules, governed among others, height, environment and aesthetics in core and buffer heritage zones. The guidelines were endorsed by the state planning committee in August last year.

"The guidelines were outlined to protect, preserve and promote the city’s heritage value and at the same time stimulate its socio-economic growth.

"It was not a blanket rule, but a set of guidelines to implement balanced and comprehensive sustainable growth in Georgetown," said Teng.

Strict guidelines

The guidelines were formulated in early 2007 after various meetings, forums and deliberations with the public, especially developers, heritage groups, social activists, and environmentalists.

Teng dismissed complaints made by Real Estate and Housing Developers Association (Rehda) Penang branch that its members were unaware of the guidelines.

He argued that developers, contractors, engineers, architects and building designers would have easily obtained the set of guidelines from the council when they applied for approval for their projects.

"Otherwise how could they plan their projects?" he asked.

The Georgetown heritage zone covers a 259.42ha area encompassing Lorong Love, Pengkalan Weld, Lebuh Pantai, Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling, Jalan Tun Sheh Barakbah, Lebuh Light, Lebuh Bishop, Lebuh Gereja, Lebuh China, Lebuh Pasar, Lebuh Chulia, Lebuh Armenian and Lebuh Acheh.

The buffer zone is the vicinity between the core area and Komtar.

Penang has more than 12,000 pre-war buildings, mainly of Anglo-Indian architecture, the most in the country.

The current government is formulating a new state heritage management plan to govern the heritage zone.