DAP has turned the tables on Gerakan, blaming the party for being the real culprit behind the loss of living heritage - those practising traditional and unique trades and occupations - in George Town, Penang.

 

The outspoken MP for Tanjong, Ng Wei Aik, said Gerakan only knew how to criticise Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng for supposedly not protecting the city's living heritage but failed to recognise its own faults.

 

He was referring to Gerakan leaders who in the past week had slammed Lim for saying that the state was looking into protecting “tangible” heritage sites (buildings and spaces), and was slowly identifying areas for traditional trades, under the special area plan.

 

Lim denied that the state had chased out existing traditional traders like those in Chulia Street who are facing eviction, saying the property owners had the law on their side.

 

“They failed to reflect that many residents had been evicted by house owners within the heritage enclave of George Town simply because the former Gerakan state government did not pass any regulations to prohibit such an exercise,” Ng ( left ) said in a statement in Penang today.

 

Ng placed the blame squarely on former state executive councillor Teng Chang Yeow, who is now Penang BN chief, for the absence of laws to prevent house owners to sell their properties to foreigners within the Unesco World Heritage site.

 

George Town was awarded a listing as Unesco World Heritage Site in 2008, two months after Gerakan lost Penang to Pakatan Rakyat in the 12th general election.

 

Ng said Teng failed to do this when the state government, led by former Gerakan president Koh Tsu Koon, submitted the dossier and heritage plan to Unesco. 

 

'Most absurd remark'

When contacted, Teng was livid over Ng’s statement which he deemed “the most absurd remark heard in 2015” from the MP and former political secretary to the chief minister.

 

Teng ( right ) said it was most irresponsible to push the blame to the previous Gerakan administration when DAP has ruled Penang for six years now.

 

“If we did not do it, as claimed by Ng, why do they not do it now? After all, DAP’s slogan is ‘ubah’ (change). It is a heinous crime if you do not change but continue to do what we did in the past,” Teng asserted.

 

Teng urged the former Komtar assemblyman to read the dossier properly before engaging with him about heritage issues.

 

He said the previous state government was committed to protecting the “outstanding universal value of George Town”, a phrase in the dossier, which clearly meant the living heritage of the city.

 

He said the issue of sales of property within the heritage area was not part of the dossier as it was difficult for foreigners to own property in Penang in the past.

 

“We did propose an administrative rule to make it difficult for transfer of properties within the heritage area but we were hurrying up to complete the dossier to be submitted to Unesco,” he said. 

 

“Why don’t you (DAP) do it? You are already six years in government. Why do you allow it (sale of properties within the heritage site to foreigners) to continue to happen?” he queried.

 

Ng also took issue with Gerakan state committee member Albert Tan Kah Leong and state youth legal and public complaints bureau chief Jason Loo Jieh Sheng who criticised Lim earlier for “not knowing the actual reasons behind the issue”.

 

“As the result of their criticisms, they have dragged their big brother, Teng Chang Yeow, into the matter,” Ng declared.

 

Ng said when Penang and Malacca submitted their dossiers and heritage management plans to Unesco through the federal government, there was no mention of enacting laws to prohibit the selling of old houses on the site to foreigners.

 

He admitted that local property owners could not resist the offer to sell to foreign consortiums. After the units were sold, the new owners would evict the residents and convert the building to hotels or cafes.

 

Ng also blamed the repeal of the 1966 Rent Control Act in Parliament in 1999 as being one of the causes that contributed to people moving away from the heritage site as they could no longer afford the hike in rents.

 

“Therefore, the main culprit who undermined the living heritage within George Town is not Guan Eng or the current Pakatan administration; it is Gerakan leaders like Koh and Teng, and other state excos like Teng Hock Nan and their allies in BN.

 

“When pointing fingers at others, do not forget that there are three fingers pointing back,” was Ng’s message to Gerakan.