Preserve Penang’s heritage; PDC must withdraw eviction notice issued to Burmah Square tenants now!

MCA Penang appeals to the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) to rescind the eviction notices issued to tenants of Burmah Square and salvage the pre-war shoplots located there.

PDC plans to demolish the pre-WW2 heritage buildings to make way for skyscrapers, office buildings and apartments. The buildings along Jalan Chow Thye and Jalan Servis were constructed between the 1920s and 1931, and are considered Category II Heritage Buildings.

In 2018, Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow informed that Category II heritage buildings outside a heritage area CAN BE demolished. Not having specific requirements to prevent their destruction can and might be abused as a loophole to circumvent the caveat that such demolitions are subjected to the local council’s approvals, and depending on the condition of the buildings.

Has the DAP state administration completely forgotten or is ignorant of the fact that the existence of pre-war structures led to George Town being listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008? Such is the heritage charm that attracts both domestic and international tourists to Penang.

Besides Runnymede Hotel, Metropole Hotel (formerly Asdang House) among scores of other pre-war buildings, and now Burmah Square, how many more of Penang’s stately mansions or edifices constructed during colonial times, are set to be reduced to rubble for the erection of generic skyscrapers?

1-month eviction notice inconsiderate
Heritage aside, to add salt to injury, on 1 December 2021, the Burmah Square tenants were slapped with only one month’s notice to vacate by 1 January 2022. How does PDC expect its tenants to come up with viable alternatives with such a brief eviction notice?

Some tenants had only freshly poured money into renovating the interiors of the building; many others had invested heavily into preserving the buildings and turning them into tourist attractions. China Press (4 Dec 2021, https://bit.ly/3y060OV) reports that one tenant has even spent RM120,000 for ongoing renovation works only to be served with the 1-month eviction notice.

Bulldozing small businesses
The tenants are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel after the lockdown was lifted and economy resumes; now their hopes are dashed against the wall.

At a time when the private sector in Penang is taking the initiative to revitalise, thereby contribute towards the nation’s emergence out of the mass-scale financial woes inflicted by the Covid-19 pandemic, it is disappointing that the DAP-led Penang state government is once again, more eager to placate big-time property developers at its tenants’ expense. It should instead be considerate towards the struggles of the smaller-scaled business community and provide the latter with incentives to restore and preserve the pre-war structures.

Datuk Tan Teik Cheng
MCA Vice President
MCA Penang State Liaison Committee Chairman

-MCA online-