Do restoration activities in stages, state urged

RESTORATION activities by the Penang Government should be conducted in stages, with emphasise on tourist hotspots and impressive buildings.

Suggesting that the restoration exercise start from the core of George Town, conservation architect Ooi Bok Kim said financial constraints meant that focus should be on areas where tourists normally flock to.

“Perhaps we can start with the Love Lane, Stewart Lane, Chulia Street and Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling enclave. A study needs to be done on this.

“The Federal Government’s RM50mil allocation for heritage conservation is not enough because we need to share it with Malacca.

“Thus, we need to prioritise. Impressive buildings located at the corner of the intersections should be given special attention,” he opined.

Ooi noted that when it came to restoring heritage buildings, there were three main areas of concern €“ the roof, facade and five-footway.

“If the roof leaks, water will penetrate the timber, causing white ants to come. Eventually the timber floors will collapse.

“The facade is important because it is the first thing people see. Features like windows, doors and carvings must be maintained because these are the essence of the heritage building.

“The covered five-footway should not be cluttered with air-conditioning units and mini gates because it was meant to provide shade for people walking past. It is for everyone’s use and is part of the facade so we shouldn’t obstruct it,” he said.

There are 4,655 shophouses in George Town’s core and buffer zones of which about 500 are dilapidated and abandoned.

“Once the restoration is complete, maintenance becomes very important to prevent future deterioration,” he said.

Ooi also stressed that local council enforcement was cru- cial.

“The Penang Municipal Council must enforce the heritage building guidelines strictly and prevent these structures from being used for bird’s nest operations,” he said, adding that before the repeal of the Rent Control Act in 1999, heritage buildings were generally well maintained.

“Because most of the pre-war houses belonged to clanhouses and prominent families, they were reluctant to spend money renovating the structures which were usually rented to tenants.

“Whatever repairs that were made were minimal so the heritage buildings were well preserved €“ even the roofs were original Indian tiles.

“After the repeal, people who bought over the buildings for business purposes started renovations that completely changed the character of the structures.

“The roofs were replaced with asbestos and zinc while roller shutters took the place of the wooden doors,” Ooi said, add- ing that he was not against using the houses for business purposes.

“However, we can’t just have rows of souvenir shops, restaurants and boutiques. We have to re-capture the spirit of community living by renting the premises to families.

“I know for a fact that many people are still keen on living in the inner city. We need to make sure that the rent is affordable though,” he said, adding that RM800 to RM1,000 was “fair”.