12
INTERVIEWS VIEWS
Safeguarding the homecoming feel
ASK a Penangite what his
favourite homecoming
experience is, and chances
are it would be a slow
ferry ride across the
Penang channel. Indeed,
the sensation of being in
a ferry as it approaches
George Town’s waterfront,
with the charming skyline
of old buildings against
the soft green hills in
the background, can be
immensely nostalgic.
So it was perhaps fitting
that in 2003, a state-led
heritage committee rejected
proposals for high-rise
development along this
iconic waterfront, reasoning
that the enduring aesthetic
texture of the place needed to
be safeguarded.
This move came on the
heels of a ruling by the state
government in 1996 that
prohibited new buildings
from exceeding a height of
five storeys in the inner city.
But only recently,
two developers obtained
approvals from the Penang
TheNutmeg
Verses
by Himanshu Bhatt
Island Municipal Council
(MPPP) to build new hotels
12 storeys in height, in front
of this historic port.
When the developers
– Boustead Holdings Bhd
and Asian Global Business
Sdn Bhd – made public their
plans, the images showed
bulky structures looming
over the waterfront and
dwarfing the line of low-rise
picturesque buildings along
the quay.
A group of heritage
activists immediately went
up in arms, protesting
against the intrusion upon
the heritage quarter by
commercial “monsters”.
Meanwhile, another
establishment – the famed
Eastern & Oriental Hotel
– was making plans to build
a 17-storey structure within
the Unesco heritage zone.
Ironically enough, the E&O
is one of the most well-
known heritage hotels in the
region, its corridors having
seen the likes of Somerset
Maugham, Joseph Conrad,
Herman Hesse and Rudyard
Kipling.
To be fair, the iconic
hotel had received
approval for a 28-storey
condominium block in 1996,
but was affected by the
Asian economic crisis that
followed. The project has
since been scaled down.
But even more dramatic
is the approval given to a
23-storey hotel project in
Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah.
What is noteworthy about
this project, undertaken by
Tanjong Bintang Sdn Bhd, is
that its approval was given
on June 26, just 10 days
before Unesco bestowed
World Heritage Site status
jointly on George Town and
Malacca.
What is most puzzling
about the whole affair is
this: how could the MPPP
have approved such projects
when it was at that very
time drafting guidelines
restricting new buildings
from having a height of
more than 18m (or about
five storeys)?
The two actions are
glaringly incongruous; on
the one hand you approve
a high-rise project, and on
the other you are drafting
legislation restricting
high-rises.
In fact, Richard
Engelhardt, the Unesco
theSun
regional adviser for
Asia-Pacific, put into
question the government’s
sincerity in approving such
projects after it had already
submitted an application for
the Unesco listing.
“Certainly I am sure the
World Heritage Committee
(WHC) will look very
askance to that and take
it as a sign of not serious
management,” he said.
He even went as far as
to warn that the approvals
could be taken into account
when George Town’s World
Heritage Site status, now
Certainly I am sure the
World Heritage Committee will be complied
(WHC) will look very askance to with
that and take it as a sign of not completion stage”.
serious management,”
– Richard Engelhardt Town requires now,
shared with Malacca, is
reviewed by WHC in July.
However, some
developers have pointed
to necessary economies of
scale where enough plot
ratio needs to be achieved
for the projects to work for
private developers.
For example, AGB,
whose development directly
faces the ferry terminal,
insists that its new building
would be sensitive to the
value of the historic quarter,
and would in fact help to
revitalise the area.
In fact, the developer
stresses that it is restoring
six buildings, some of which Comments: letters@
are unkempt and stagnating
| THURSDAY NOVEMBER 20 2008
Here to stay ... A heritage
building in Lebuh Victoria,
one of many which give
George Town its character
as a World Heritage Site.
MASRY CHE ANI/THESUN
with “pigeon crap”. There
is also talk that the project
would promote a cultural
centre with arts, theatre and
a pub.
But there are other
developers that are more
silent and curt about their
vision to contribute to
heritage conservation.
When contacted, a
representative for Tanjong
Bintang replied that it had
complied with requirements
“as stipulated by all relevant
departments and agencies”
and that “measures will also
be taken to ensure that all
requirements as
stipulated by MPPP
during the
construction up to
What George
more than ever, is
not just “compliance”, but
a soulful initiative from
the very people who will
determine how the city
looks and feels in years to
come.
George Town is now a
Unesco heritage zone, not a
businessman’s playground.
Hopefully our developers
and politicians will live up
to the high expectations that
locals and the international
community alike have for
this unique historic corner
of the world.
Himanshu is theSun’s
Penang bureau chief.
thesundaily.com