IPOH: PRE-WAR and heritage buildings in the city centre have been demolished to make way for development.
It seems as if the much-talked about efforts to preserve these buildings by the state government and the Ipoh City Council (MBI) have fallen on deaf ears.
Streets discovered recently that a row of 13 pre-war shop houses in Jalan Raja Musa Aziz have been earmarked for demolition.
Two have already been demolished.
Coffeeshop owner, Eric Foong, 48, said demolishing pre-war buildings was expected as the row of buildings was an eyesore.
“The row of shop houses look abandoned and shabby, which is not a pleasant sight for tourists.
“It is better to build new buildings since the owners can no longer manage them or preserve them for heritage values,” he said.
Businesswoman, A. Villas, 53, who sells Indian food nearby, said the pre-war buildings were still occupied until last year.
Azwin Abdul Razid, 28, who lives nearby, felt the authorities were not doing enough to preserve heritage buildings in the city centre.
There was a posting about the demolition of the two pre-war buildings on the All About Ipoh Facebook page.
The post was accompanied by photographs of the buildings being demolished.
Facebook users described the situation as “another disaster in Ipoh, showing that Ipoh folk do not appreciate heritage buildings in this city”.
An upset user wrote: “One day we will lose our identity and future generations will not know how the city was established and how it has grown.
“We have the advantage of history where many cities nationwide do not have, but here our people decided to knock the buildings down and let these treasures bite the dust.”
MBI corporate affairs principal assistant director Normala Latiff said private property owners had the right to demolish or renovate pre-war buildings of heritage value unless they were listed under the State Heritage Buildings Preservation Sites.
“If the pre-war buildings are listed under the State Heritage Buildings Perservation Sites, then the owner of the building has to preserve the facade of the building in good tenable condition as stated under the National Heritage Building Act 2005.
“Under Section 112 of the Act, a written permission from the Commission, is required if the owner wants to renovate the back portion of the heritage building,” she said.
Normala said the council’s planning unit would look into the matter.