Vision Short Sight a Pearl of the Orient no longer a Heritage Site (soon)

Malaysian island could lose new world heritage status: A statement by the United Nations said on Monday that Malaysia's Penang island could lose its newly-acquired world heritage status because of a row over plans for four high-rise hotels.

Hubert Gijzen, the regional chief of UNESCO, the UN's cultural wing, who officially presented the listing to Penang and southern Malacca state at the weekend, said the body would send experts to help resolve the controversy. It is claimed that the hotels, all of which have been approved by Malaysian planning authorities, would be too tall under UNESCO's rules for world heritage listing. "I have spoken to the Malaysian minister of unity, culture and heritage and we agreed to set up a joint UNESCO mission of experts who will sit with the local government and developers to work this out," he told AFP. "The team will look at all angles and submit its findings and we will try to work it out but if after several rounds we cannot reach an agreement then the island will risk losing its heritage status," he said. "So I think this is the best way to resolve the situation and I am now waiting for the minister to write formally so that we can begin." Last week Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said his government was in a bind as the state could not afford to face legal action over cancelling the buildings which exceed UNESCO's 15-metre (49-foot) maximum height limit. He said three of the buildings were approved by a previous state government, and the fourth was approved before heritage status was granted in July. A member of the former state government has said the guidelines on the height policy had been amended to allow the buildings, and Gijzen said that claim would have to be investigated. "All countries have to go strictly by the guidelines which are rarely amended. If it violates the guidelines then it cannot be done," he said. The UNESCO boss said the determining factor would be the exact location of the buildings. "There is a matter of which zone these buildings are located in as the rules are very strict for the inner zone, less so for the immediate zone and there is some flexibility for the outer zone," he said. "If the development is outside the outer zone, it could be higher than 15 metres." The New Straits Times reported Monday that two of the four hotels would be located in the inner zone while the other two would be in the outer zone. Penang's capital, George Town, along with the port city of Malacca, were awarded heritage status after years of waiting for recognition. Penang's capital was honoured for its colonial-era pre-World War II buildings. Malaysia had hoped the heritage listing would boost tourism, which is a key foreign exchange earner. If only the powers that are were more far sighted.