[1715] Of a World Heritage Site in Malaysia under threat

The mainstream media is celebrating the status of Malacca and George Town as the new World Heritage Sites. The Star for instance is giving the news a front page treatment.^[0] I on the other hand am less than happy. If news of the award could be called a victory, I would call it a hollow victory. What is the point of having new World Heritage Sites when an existing site is under threat?

Late last month, a plan to build dams across Sarawak was leaked to the public. One of the proposed damn would sit on the Tutoh River. According to that plan, part of the Gunung Mulu National Park would be inundated as part of the dam on Tutoh.^[1]

If any of us has forgotten amid the celebration, the National Park is one of the three World Heritage Sites in Malaysia.

I would prefer to have the UNESCO to postpone any decision to grant the two cities World Heritage status until the future of the Mulu has been ascertained. If Malaysia cannot guarantee the well-being of Mulu, I am unconvinced how Malaysia could maintain George Town and Malacca in the list in the long run.

^[0] KUALA LUMPUR: The citizens of Malacca and Penang rejoiced as they celebrate the inscription of their state capitals as World Heritage Sites. [Malacca, Penang cheer listing on world heritage site. The Star. July 9 2008]

^[1] National treasures such as the world-renowned Mulu National Park may also fall victim when parts of it will be submerged under the planned 220 megawatts dam on the Tutoh river in northeastern Sarawak.

The Mulu National Park is listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) as a world heritage site because of its biodiversity and its extensive network of caves. [Sarawak’s 12 new dams alarm environmentalists. Fauwaz Abdul Aziz. Malaysiakini. June 19 2008]