Georgetown, Malacca win world heritage status

Malaysiakini.com
Jul 8, 08 10:49am

The historic Malaysian trading towns of Georgetown and Malacca are among eight new cultural sites that have been added to Unesco's World Heritage List today.
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According to Unesco, both sites have been imbued with a multicultural heritage after more than five centuries of trading and cultural exchanges between East and West.

a famosa fort melakaGeorgetown and Malacca joined two other World Heritage Sites in Malaysia which won listing in 2000 - the Gunung Mulu National Park in Sarawak and the Kinabalu Park in Sabah.

Also included on the coveted list are a controversial Hindu temple in Cambodia and an early agricultural site from Papua New Guinea.

Honoured were the 11th century Preah Vihear temple site, perched on a mountaintop on the Thai-Cambodia border; the cities of the Straits of Malacca - Georgetown and Malacca in Malaysia - and the Kuk Early Agricultural Site in Papua New Guinea, marking the country's first entry on the list.

The heritage recognition has also been given to a sweeping part of the coral reef and lagoon around in the French territory of New Caledonia, in the South Pacific east of Australia.

The Unesco committee has been meeting in this oldest of Canadian cities since Wednesday to consider adding to its list of protected architectural and natural wonders.

Unesco promotes the idea that the World Heritage sites on its list belong to the international community, irrespective of the territory on which they are located.

While a World Heritage Site remain the responsibility of the country where the site is located, it is also considered in the interest of the international community to preserve it.

preah vihear temple in thai cambodia borderA total of 45 new sites were vying for inclusion on the list this year at the meeting which ends on Thursday, but few are more controversial than the Preah Vihear temple.

Last week, Cambodia deployed riot police to protect the Thai embassy for fear that a border dispute over the temple could spark violent protests.

The move came after Thailand suspended its endorsement of Cambodia's bid for the UN cultural agency Unesco to grant the long-disputed Preah Vihear temple (right) World Heritage status.

preah vihear temple in thai cambodia border 2Security forces were also mobilised to protect Thai-owned businesses in the capital Phnom Penh.

In 1962, the dispute over the 11th-century temple went before the World Court, which ruled that the temple belonged to Cambodia, although the main entrance lies at the foot of a mountain in Thailand.

The long-standing row appeared resolved last month, after Thailand endorsed Cambodia's plan to seek World Heritage status at a Unesco meeting in Canada this week.

A contested landscape

But the deal sparked a political controversy in Thailand, and last week Cambodia closed the mountaintop temple after more than 100 Thais marched to the compound to protest the deal. A Thai court then forced the government to suspend its endorsement of the plan.

Ambassador Francesco Caruso, special advisor to the director general of Unesco, told AFP the listing was not meant to prejudice the ongoing dispute.

unesco world heritage missionRather, it was hoped it might be amended in the future to a bi-national listing of the temple and its contested landscape.

"It could become a mixed natural and architectural site, the door is open. The Cambodians negotiated a listing that opens the door to such future harmony. The Thais are demanding it now," he said, noting both governments were heavily consulted in the wording.

The ruins of the Hindu temple are the most important example of ancient Khmer architecture outside of Cambodia's famed Angkor Wat, and have weathered centuries of wars and duelling territorial claims with Thailand.

Built to honour the Hindu god Shiva, Preah Vihear stretches dramatically up to a cliff-top in the Dangrek mountain range.

Unesco deemed the site exceptional for its location on a plateau with sheer cliffs overlooking a vast plain and mountain range; its rare architecture and the religious function of the temple; and its carved stone ornamentation.

Cambodia began seeking World Heritage status for the temple nearly six years ago.

To date, 862 sites in more than 140 countries have been designated Unesco World Heritage sites.

The UN agency also named as a heritage site 15,000 square kilometers of the New Caledonia lagoon, the world's second largest continuous coral reef in the world after Australia's Great Barrier reef.

"We are delighted," said Isabelle Ohlen, vice-president of the New Caledonia Congress.

Former military site

Also on Monday, the heritage committee included examples of the 17th century military architecture of Sebastien Le Prestre de Vauban, who built or upgraded more than 300 fortifications along France's borders.

malaysia world heritage sites 080708His designs, which had a major role in the history of fortification in Europe and as far away as the American continent, Russia and East Asia, exemplify "the peak of classic fortifications, typical of western military architecture," the committee said.

Other sites added to the Unesco list include Slovakian wooden churches, German early 20th century low-income housing, the Renaissance towns of Mantua and Sabbioneta in Italy, and the Stari Grad Plain on the Adriatic island of Hvar, farmed for 2,400 years.

San Marino, too, entered the coveted list, said the committee, "as a testimony to the continuity of a free republic since the Middle Ages."

Its historic center, with its fortification towers, walls, gates and bastions, dates back to the foundation of the republic as a city-state in the 13th century.

mountain railway of india 080708Thanks to its position on top of Mount Titano, it was not affected by the urban transformations of the industrial era to today.

During the session, the committee also approved the extension of the Mountain Railways of India with the inscription of the Kalka Shimla Railway, a 96-kilometer single-track working rail link built in the mid-19th century to provide a service to the highland town of Shimla.

Minister wolcomes the move

Welcoming the decision, Minister of Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Mohd Shafie Apdal said it was a recognition of the federal and state governments' efforts as well as non-governmental organisations to promote and preserve George Town and Malacca.

The recognition by Unesco will not only attract tourists to the two cities but local and foreign researchers, analysts and other experts as well, said Shafie.

He also urged the Penang and Malacca state governments to note the more stringent requirements to protect the historic zones of George Town and Malacca from indiscriminate development.

"Do not disturb the zones that have been identified, such as the sites on Penang Island, and the regulations which have followed. If there are plans to develop, inform us," Shafie told a press conference in Parliament lobby.

Earlier at the same lobby, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail had also lauded Unesco's decision to list George Town and Malacca as a World Heritage Site.

"Once we have been honoured with this listing, we have a responsibility not only to preserve what we have but to enhance this value. To be granted this recognition is an acknowledgement that we have a heritage of outstanding universal value that we all feel proud of," said Lim.

Lim said Penang members of parliament would also seek a meeting with Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on ways the state government could cooperate with the federal government to preserve and promote George Town.