No decision yet on developer's offer for heritage fund
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Our report on July 28.
State Local Government, Traffic Management and Environment Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow said the developer had made an offer to contribute to the heritage fund, which is managed by the George Town World Heritage Incorporated.
He said the offer was made when the developer appealed against an MPPP order for the bungalow to be rebuilt.
"The contribution was offered as a commitment towards preserving heritage but the state government has yet to accept the offer," he said.
Chow said this when asked to comment on a letter written to him and Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, questioning whether the developer was indeed contributing millions of ringgit to the state's heritage fund.
In an email to Lim by Pykett resident S.K. Ang on July 7 this year, the chief minister was questioned whether Penang's heritage was for sale.
Ang wrote: "Tonight (July 7), I heard that this developer may get away by paying a couple of million ringgit ostensibly to a heritage fund. What is the difference between this sum of money and the fine of RM6,000 imposed by the courts?
"Is our heritage for sale? RM6,000 is a measly price but does a couple of million make it acceptable? At the end of the day, are we saying that our heritage is for sale for the right price?
"Because if that is the message we are giving, there will be nothing to stop developers and house owners from demolishing what is left of our heritage buildings and paying the necessary sum of money, be it in the form of a fine or donation.
"There will soon be no need for a heritage fund because there is nothing left to preserve."
Ang also suggested that errant developers responsible for unlawful demolitions should have their building permit applications rejected for a certain number of years as a measure to curb such offences.
It was reported in Northern Streets on July 28 that residents of Lebuhraya Pykett want the developer to rebuild the bungalow it demolished, as ordered by Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP).
A year has passed since the double-storey bungalow at 20, Lebuhraya Pykett in Pulau Tikus was unlawfully demolished.
The matter, which caused a public outcry, especially among heritage conservationists, is still far from over.
Residents living in the Lebuhraya Pykett, Jalan Westlands and Jalan Khaw Sim Bee areas near the land, where the bungalow once stood, claim that the developer has submitted a new application to the local authority when it has yet to reconstruct the bungalow as instructed.
Lebuhraya Pykett resident Y.C. Lee, 48, said the residents in the area were recently notified of the developer's application made to MPPP's one-stop-centre for a planning approval for a multi-million ringgit high-rise residential project on Lot 951 at Lebuhraya Pykett.
This application, he said, was submitted last month even though the developer had not complied with an order by the MPPP to rebuild the bungalow.
The order from the MPPP came in February, a month after the developer was fined a mere RM6,000 by a magistrate's court for tearing down the structure without a permit.
Chow was quoted in February as saying that the MPPP had also applied to the court to have the fine increased.
With the latest development, the residents wanted to know what had happened to the rebuilding order, said Lee.
To this, Chow said the MPPP has yet to make any decision regarding the matter.
He said MPPP's order for the developer to reconstruct a two-storey colonial-era bungalow on the site that was demolished without permit was still standing.
Chow, who met with residents from the Lebuhraya Pykett, Jalan Westlands and Jalan Khaw Sim Bee areas late last month to discuss and hear their grouses on the matter, said everything was still pending at the moment.
"We are taking into account the developer's appeal against the order, its latest application for planning approval and the people's views on the matter.
"Nothing is finalised yet, and we are treating this issue in an integrated and holistic manner," he said.
Read more: No decision yet on developer's offer for heritage fund http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/2gtts/Article/#ixzz1UcNpxRE6
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