LENGGONG: The Tourism and Culture Ministry has initiated a move to secure Unesco World Heritage Site status for three more places in Malaysia.
Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz named the sites as the Royal Belum State Park in Gerik, Perak; the Quartz Ridge of Gombak, Selangor; and the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM).
The ministry sent a tentative list of documents to Unesco prior to furnishing a complete dossier on the three sites, Nazri said in his speech at the launch of the Lenggong Carnival 2017 at Dataran Lenggong here last night.
The text of his speech was read out by ministry secretary-general Datuk Ab Ghaffar A Tambi. The celebration was held in conjunction with the fifth anniversary of the recognition of Lenggong Valley as a World Heritage Site.
Other Unesco World Heritage Sites in Malaysia include the Gunung Mulu National Park in Sarawak; the Kinabalu Park in Sabah; as well as the historic cities of Melaka and George Town.
“The Department of National Heritage is preparing the dossier for the nomination of the new sites, with the collaboration of various quarters to fulfil the criteria and requirements of Unesco,” Nazri said in his speech.
The Lenggong Valley, recognised as a Unesco World Heritage Site on June 30, 2012, offers evidence of the existence of the world’s oldest prehistoric activity in the world. It was there that the prehistoric human skeleton, the Perak Man, was found. -- BERNAMA