Demolished bungalows not in Unesco heritage zone

GEORGE TOWN: State exco for the local government, traffic management and flood mitigation Chow Kon Yeow said that the colonial era bungalow that were demolished by a developer in 2010 is not in the Unesco's heritage zone listing and therefore there is no requirement for the building to be rebuild.
According to him, the council reverted from its earlier order to the developer to reconstruct the mansion because the structure did not come under the heritage buildings of Categories 1 and 2.
"In fact the company told the council that even if they were forced to rebuild the buidling they will tear it down again", he said after visiting the completed flood mitigation project near the Methodist Girl School ( MGS) earlier this morning.
He also said that the order to rebuild the bungalow is no longer an issue because it was not listed in world heritage zone.
"In this particular case the building is no longer need to be build because it was not listed", he said.
On March 5 Penang BN chairman Teng Chang Yeow had urged the state government to come clean over an order to rebuild a colonial era bungalow demolished by a developer in 2010.
Conservation groups were up in arms when the building was torn down on July 26 that year before approval was obtained from the Penang Island Municipal Council.
The council subsequently took the matter to court and the company was fined RM6,000 by the George Town magistrate's court on Jan 17, 2011, for demolishing without permit.
The building was originally owned by Khaw Bian Cheng Sdn Bhd, which is connected to the 19th century magnate Khaw Sim Bee who was governor of Phuket in the 1890s.
A high-rise condominium project has been proposed for the plot of land in Lorong Pykett here.
theSun in 2011 broke the story that the council had ordered the developer to rebuild the building.