THE state government’s decision to extend the moratorium against swiftlet breeding in George Town’s core heritage zone for another year has NGOs and affected residents up in arms. Read here.

Penang Heritage Trust (PHT) president Khoo Salma Nasution said the state government’s decision to extend the moratorium on the breeders would be a breach of Unesco’s heritage management guidelines as building guidelines and by-laws would be violated. George Town would run the risk of losing its heritage listing if there is no clampdown. Read here.

Cultural Heritage Advisory Team (CHAT) educationist Janet Pillai said a research conducted by Universiti Sains Malaysia and PHT showed that there were some 141 swiftlet breeding houses in the heritage core zone. “These numbers do not include those in the buffer zone… Of the 141, 116 are heritage shophouses, 23 commercial buildings and two of unknown status.” Read here.

PHT and CHAT have indicated their plans to release these statistics to the inspectors from the Unesco heritage authorities and a copy of the report would be forwarded to the state government to highlight the severity of the situation. Read here.

The state government on the other hand has insisted that it has little choice. It had been advised to postpone adopting any guidelines related to the swiftlet industry until the cabinet approved new guidelines being prepared at the national level. Dubbed the National Swiftlet Industry Guidelines, the draft is still being prepared by the Veterinary Services Department, and Town and Country Planning Department. Read here.

Meanwhile, Association of Swiftlet Nest Industry (ASNI) president Carole Loh stated that swiftlets have been part of inner George Town even before the area was granted Unesco World Heritage status. “These birds are Penang’s ‘living heritage’, and the fact that George Town was granted the status despite their existence means they have no impact on Unesco’s decision.” Read here.

Other news

• Penang's heritage not only in George Town: Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) School of Social Sciences have indicated that there are more than 40 heritage sites in Penang that are untapped. These include Hindu and Chinese temples, churches, mosques, mansions, monuments, bridges, stone markings, reservoirs and aqueducts and cemeteries. Read here
• Malay heritage zone proposal: A ''new'' map of Tanjung Tokong completed with the help of an heritage architect will be incorporated into a proposal to preserve the area as a Malay heritage zone. Read here
• State to intensify green efforts: The state government will go on an aggressive drive next year to encourage more people to recycle household waste. Read here
• Penang got just 3% of what it had contributed: Penang has only received RM794mil in federal grants in the last eight years even though it had contributed RM25,670mil in taxes and custom duties. Read here
• Penang to fast-track RM100m heritage hotel project: The Penang government will consider fast-tracking the development of a heritage hotel project here, valued at about RM100 million, in which the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) now holds a 50% stake. Read here
  

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