Kedah targets Unesco listing

11 December 2013| last updated at 12:41AM

SUNGAI PETANI: THE Kedah government is committed to get Lembah Bujang listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site, said Menteri Besar Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir yesterday.

Mukhriz also urged certain quarters to stop manipulating the recent demolition of a candi by a private developer. He said the ancient remnants in the valley represented a civilisation comprising Hinduism, Buddhism and Islamic influences dating back to the 8th century.

As such, he urged all parties to view the Lembah Bujang valley issue from the bigger perspective of an ancient civilisation.

While stressing that the state government was not downplaying the importance of the candi at Site 11 in Sungai Batu, which was demolished during land clearing works, he said it was crucial to view the importance of Lembah Bujang as a potential tourist attraction.

"First of all, the demolished structure at site 11 is not an eight-century-old candi, but a reconstructed foundation rebuilt in 1974 on the candi's original site.

"The state government is committed to preserve and rehabilitate all the ancient remnants from the Hindus, Buddhist and Muslim civilisations in Lembah Bujang. Thus, if we only focus on a Hindu structure alone, then we will be missing the much bigger point here.

"In fact, Maharaja Derba Raja XI had converted to Islam and changed his name to Sultan Muzaffar Shah from 1136, which marked the beginning of Islamic and Malay civilisation in Lembah Bujang and the state," he said after attending a luncheon with members of the Kedah and Perlis Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM).

On the Unesco listing, Mukhriz said the previous Kedah administrations had made several attempts to obtain the listing but the state had to comply with several requirements set by the world body.

"The state is committed to secure the Unesco listing as Lembah Bujang has potential to become an international tourism attraction as one of the earliest civilisations existed in the region."

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Kedah targets Unesco listing