THE George Town city status is both the heritage and right of Penangites, according to Penang Heritage Trust (PHT) president Khoo Salma Nasution.
She said the city of George Town was a flourishing democracy in the 1960s and many citizens who had “tasted” that would like to see their “basic right” restored within their lifetime.
The city status, she added, should not be denied or forsaken due to administrative negligence or miscommunication.
Khoo was responding to reports that the Penang government was diligently pursuing the issue of George Town regaining its city status.
During the Malaysian Architects Association (PAM) ‘World Day of Architecture 2012’ celebration at a hotel recently, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said George Town was accorded the status by Queen Elizabeth II on Jan 1, 1957.
The theme for the celebration was ‘Architects are City Changers’.
According to earlier reports, the George Town City Council merged with the Penang Rural District Council to become the Penang Island Municipal Council in the 1970s.
This eventually led to the loss of the city status.
PAM president Saifuddin Ahmad said that this year marked the first time the association was organising the national celebration outside Kuala Lumpur.
He said although the Federal Government had redefined the parameters of what constituted a city, it did not take away the fact that George Town was the first urban area to be accorded the status.
“This was why we decided to hold the celebration here.
“For older and established cities like George Town that have been recognised as a Unesco World Heritage Site, the process of rehabilitation, regeneration and establishment of new developments need to be looked at,” he said.
He said since the Green Build-ing Index — a green rating tool jointly developed by PAM and the Association of Consulting Engineers Malaysia — was launched in 2009, Penang became the first state in the country to offer incentives for developers to obtain the certification.
In conjunction with the event, a one-day seminar featuring speakers like Khoo and Komtar architect Datuk Seri Lim Chong Keat was held. - The Star
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