Replica city: Jagdeep (right) looking at a 3D model of the George Town Unesco World Heritage Site at the Esplanade.
GEORGE TOWN: Efforts to maintain George Town’s status as a Unesco World Heritage Site remain ongoing on the state government’s agenda, says Jagdeep Singh Deo.
The state housing, local government, town and country planning committee chairman said to this end, the state government had organised a town hall session involving stakeholders from the George Town Unesco World Heritage Site (TWDGT) yesterday.
“The session is to raise awareness among all parties about the importance of heritage values and outstanding universal value (OUV) in TWDGT.
“In addition, together with the Penang Island City Council, we are always ready to listen to the voices of the people and cooperate with all stakeholders,” he said when met, Bernama reported.
“Through the state government’s efforts, several documents such as the Penang Heritage Enactment 2011, the Penang Heritage Regulations 2016 and the George Town Unesco World Heritage Site Special Area Plan have been gazetted to preserve heritage buildings,” he added.
Jagdeep said to date, the council had issued 48 notices under the Street, Drainage and Building Act to building owners regarding compliance in preserving heritage sites.
Separately, Penang Tourist Guides Association chairman Clement Liang said it was a good initiative to engage the local community for dialogue, public education and sharing.
“It should be carried out often so that more people will understand the importance of preserving our world heritage status,” he said.
Based on a case study by Unesco, a strategy to build on George Town’s diverse cultural heritage led to the inscription of the city on the World Heritage List in 2008.
The strategy included a multi-stakeholder management framework, including local communities’ stewardship and key guidance documents outlining conservation and development goals.
Together with Melaka, George Town was awarded a Unesco World Heritage Site on July 7, 2008 based on the OUV of cultural diversity embedded in the living and built heritage.
TWDGT covers a core area of 109.38ha and a buffer zone of 150.0ha, which involves 5,013 historic heritage sites, including shophouses which are home to long-time residents and places of worship that still function as they were hundreds of years ago.
There are 37 places of worship, mainly mosques, Chinese temples, Indian temples and churches within the core and buffer zones of George Town.
