Thursday, April 23, 2009

Kuching eyes UNESCO World Heritage status


KUCHING: If things go as plan, Kuching city could well be the next heritage site in the country, following in the footsteps of Melaka and Penang which have been awarded the prestigious world heritage status by UNESCO. According to Minister of Urban Development and Tourism, Datuk Michael Manyin Jawong, Kuching city meets all the criteria set by the world governing body, UNESCO.

“However we are still at the preliminary stage and it will take some time for it to materialise.

In the case of Melaka and Penang it took them eight years to get the recognition from UNESCO.

“So to start with I have instructed the President of the Sarawak Tourism Federation (STF), Wee Hong Seng, to visit both Melaka and Penang to learn from their experiences on how to attain the prestigious status as world heritage sites,” Manyin said at a Heritage talk held at Sarawak Tourism Complex here Tuesday night.

He added that for the plan to materialise the people, especially those directly involved, must be pro-active and willing to work extra hard to get the prestigious status.

“It would really be a privilege if one day Kuching city is to be gazetted as a world heritage site as it would put Kuching city in the world tourism map.

“There will be strings of benefit from it. Among others it will enhance the value of Kuching city to attract tourists to come.

It will become a top destination for business ventures as well,” he said. Manyin said among the criteria set up by UNESCO to obtain the prestigious status are: unique universal value, unique culture of its ethnic groups, including food, places of interest and arts, and it must also have a rich historical background.

Continue reading at: Kuching eyes UNESCO World Heritage status
.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

why until now, kuching's name is not in UNESCO 'tentative list' yet?
dont tell me he is main main ?