Draft plan focuses on developing parts of Ipoh

Changing it up: Heritage sites in Ipoh will be preserved through the RKK.

THE Ipoh City Council hopes to revitalise the old and new sections of the city centre with the Ipoh Special Area Draft Plan (RKK).

Datuk Bandar Datuk Roshidi Hashim said the Peninsular Malaysia Town and Country Planning Depart-ment had allocated over RM400,000 for the conservation and preservation of heritage sites in Ipoh through RKK.

“We want to focus on the development of Ipoh Old Town and Ipoh New Town, in an effort to match the rapid development in other parts of the city, for example, Meru and Klebang,” he said after the launch of a focus group discussion on RKK on Tuesday.

Roshidi hoped the focus group, made up of participants from the council, local leaders and various non-governmental organisations, would be able to provide valuable input on how to enhance the development of the city centre.

Ipoh RKK project manager Kalsom Yop Mohd Kasim believed the city would become the next Unesco World Heritage city in Malaysia, after Malacca and Georgetown, once the RKK is completed.

“The aim of RKK is to establish a heritage management plan that will assist the council in managing buildings that are considered assets to both Ipoh and the country.

“Once the heritage sites are well-managed, there will be a positive impact on tourism, economy and wellbeing of locals through the improvement of the city’s infrastructure,” she said, stressing that there must be a balance between economic development and the preservation of heritage and history.