IPOH: More heritage sites will be included under the National Heritage Trust (AWAN) to ensure the country’s national heritage is preserved.
Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the heritage sites include Pulau Anak Tikus, Kilim Geoforest Park and Langkawi, Kedah.
“Previously, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced that Taman Tugu in Kuala Lumpur was placed under AWAN.
“However, after several discussions with Khazanah Nasional Berhad, I feel that there are other heritage sites in the country that should be included under AWAN together with Taman Tugu,” he said.
Wan Junaidi said this during a press conference after attending the Asean Dialogue at Casuarina Hotel@Meru here today as a panelist. The event was held in conjunction with the 2017 Pangkor Dialogue.
Other panelists were former Marinduque congresswoman Regina Reyes Mandanas from the Philippines, Asian Solidarity Economy Council chairman Dr Benjamin R. Quinones and Singapore’s Sebawang member of parliament Amrin Amin.
Taman Tugu, a social responsibility project undertaken by Khazanah Nasional, will be located nearby Tugu Negara over a land area of 26.7ha.
The project is a multi-component project that entails the park, 4 connectors, the setting up of a public trust and a learning and innovation centre (Khazanah ILMU). The overall completion of the project is estimated to cost up to RM650 million.
A memorial park commemorating the country’s heroes, it is designed as a lush forest reserve of a thousand and more species of tropical trees acting as a green lung for Kuala Lumpur.
It will be a recreational park opened to the public without charge, replete with camping sites, jungle treks and jogging tracks, lakes and a water park. Walkways will connect it to the Taman Perdana Botanical Gardens and other tourist attractions in the area, including the National Museum and KL Sentral.
On launching the project recently, Najib said it complemented the 11th Malaysia Plan and would be part and parcel of the country’s final sprint to Vision 2020, a fully-fledged developed nation with a high-income economy. To be held and run by a public trust, it will be reserved as a public green space in perpetuity.