Studies need to be done before Emergency-era New Villages can be nominated as a Unesco world heritage site, says tourism, arts and culture minister Tiong King Sing.
Tiong said his ministry had yet to make a final decision on the proposal to nominate these villages for the Unesco listing, an idea first floated by his Cabinet colleague, Nga Kor Ming, last year.
“Through the national heritage department, the ministry’s view is that more in-depth studies are needed before we can nominate Chinese New Villages as a Unesco world heritage site.
“The agreement of state authorities must also be obtained before nominations are made. This is because the planning and development of such areas fall under the jurisdiction of the state governments and also various agencies at the federal and state level,” he said.
In a written parliamentary reply, Tiong added that Unesco had strict criteria for world heritage sites.
Last year, Nga drew brickbats from opposition parties and Umno for his proposal regarding New Villages, which were initially established to curb the communist insurgency.
Umno had argued that it would impact the position, constitutional status and rights of the Malays. However, the housing and local government minister said his ministry would also support a similar Unesco nomination for a traditional Malay village.
In February, Nga revealed that the nomination of New Villages as a Unesco site was submitted by the Malaysian chapter of the International Council on Monuments and Sites.
