Heritage at stake: Unesco status or high rise dilemma for Penang
By ANDREA FILMER
The Star Thursday November 20, 2008
GEORGE TOWN: The state government has found itself in a catch 22 situation – jeopardise George Town’s Unesco World Heritage Site status or run the risk of being sued for hundreds of millions by developers.
The crisis centres on the building of four high-rise hotels in the heritage core and buffer zones which violate the guidelines approved by the World Heritage Committee (WHC).
Under stringent heritage guidelines sent to the committee in August 2007, a maximum height of 18m or roughly five storeys was set for new buildings in the two zones.
“The guidelines were not made widely known when they were first put in place. Only when George Town’s Unesco status was approved did we realise the guidelines,” Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said after a dialogue session with the Heritage Steering Committee’s
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