‘Penang Hill needs panel to oversee renovation of century-old bungalows’
The owners of at least five of 52 bungalows on Penang Hill have submitted applications to the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) to renovate and convert their property into homestays, the Citizen Awareness Chant Group (Chant) said yesterday.
Chant legal adviser Yan Lee said from what he was told by “Friends of Chant”, the bungalows would be converted into small accommodations with not more than 20 rooms each.
He said many of the bungalows were a century old and were rich in heritage value although they were not listed as Category I or Category II heritage buildings.
“We want to ask the Penang government if they have a Penang Hill technical review panel that approves and oversees renovations of the bungalows on the hill, similar to the technical review panel looking after George Town’s Unesco heritage enclave. Otherwise, who will ensure that the heritage value of these bungalows are retained after renovation?
“If we do not have a technical review panel yet, then it must be formed immediately. Independent heritage experts should be roped in for that purpose.
“Let it be known that we are not against development, but we are in favour of development done properly.
“Penang Hill is the jewel of our crown and we should preserve the heritage at all cost.”
Yan said there were efforts to list Penang Hill and its surrounding areas as a Unesco Biosphere Reserve.
“That being the case, more care should be accorded to Penang Hill from now so that things will not go haywire when the time comes.
“Everyone must get their act together from now on to protect and preserve the rich heritage of this hill.”
Two years ago, 1,380,851 tourists, including 505,902 foreign tourists, visited Penang Hill.
Earlier this year, the state government, through Penang Hill Corporation, called for a Request for Proposal for the RM150 million Penang Hill cable car project through collaboration with the private sector. The project is expected to take three to four years to complete and be operational.