GEORGE TOWN, Dec 19 – The Penang state government has been taken to task for delaying the process of gazetting specific guidelines to maintain George Town’s status as a World Heritage city. State Gerakan Youth secretary, Ooi Zhi Yi said this was a deliberate act as the state government had for the past two years not translated the Georgetown Special Area Plan (SAP) to the Malay Language.
“The situation has caused much confusion on methods used to preserve a world heritage city status as recognised by the United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO). Meanwhile, the plan had reportedly been approved since July 12, 2013, however, the document had not been translated to the Malay language and 890 days had lapsed which could result in the World Heritage status withdrawal,” he said in a press conference here, Friday.
