BATTLE TO SAVE ATKINSON CLOCK TOWER NOT OVER

PRESS RELEASE

KOTA KINABALU, Thursday, 15th December 2011- Members of Heritage Sabah welcomed the Director Sabah Town and Regional Planning Department Encik Mursidi Sapie’s statement that the Central Board had rejected the project near Atkinson Clock Tower. However, the group is just as concerned now as it has always been regarding plans for future development on lands adjoining and near the Atkinson Clock Tower and Padang Merdeka.

They referred in particular to Mursidi’s comment that the developers can appeal upon fulfilling the requirements of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) report as well as museum and tourism authorities’ conditions. They wondered who would be considering the appeal and whether or not the same people, departments and agencies involved in the approval of the development in the first place would once again be involved in considering the appeal.

Mr. Chang Chiew Kok @ Jefferi Johan, a representative of Heritage Sabah thanked the Planning Department’s Director Mursidi Hj. Sapie for recognizing the group as key stakeholders and inviting them to the Sabah Planning Standards Workshop held on the 13th and 14th of December at Palace Hotel.

The group felt they were given an opportunity to make several important recommendations among which were that the protection of heritage sites needed to be written into policy, clearly identified on plans, and further supported by proper controls and processes. The same controls should also apply to adjoining buildings and sites to ensure that the objectives for heritage preservation are not compromised.

The group is now waiting anxiously to see if and how their recommendations will be handled by the Town and Regional Planning Department, Central Board and local authorities in Sabah. They are looking forward to the new guidelines that the Sabah Town & Regional Planning Department promised to draw up and hope proper public and key stakeholder consultation on these guidelines will be followed by these heritage sites and their immediate surrounding areas being gazetted in reference to their historical context.



On a related matter, Chang also informed that the Heritage Sabah group is also currently studying the Draft Kota Kinabalu Local Plan 2020 and will object to the plan if it thinks that heritage sites in Kota Kinabalu will not be properly protected.

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“We can now learn the truth”, says Atkinson Clock Tower applicants

PRESS RELEASE:

THURSDAY, 15th September, 2011 - The bid by a housewife and a local activist to halt the construction of a controversial 16-story commercial building next to the historical Atkinson Clock Tower has resulted in DBKK and the Central Board making available their minutes of meetings to the applicants.

The appplicants Lim Swee Geck and Jefferi Chang obtained the full set of minutes from their former counsel yesterday evening. The applicants were represented by their new counsel, Chung Jiun Dau in court.

Prior to the court proceedings, DBKK and Central Board had refused to release the minutes to the applicants stating that the document were marked as ‘sulit’ (classified).

The court was invited to widen the scope of the application for Judicial Review to beyond the provision of copies of the minutes, but the high court declined on the basis that leave (permission) was granted in July for the applicants only to apply for a court order for the minutes from DBKK and the Central Board.

This latest development of the applicant’s case means that they can now go through the minutes and determine how the approval of the 16-storey commercial block-cum-shopping mall was granted during the meetings of DBKK and Central board.

The applicants hailed the result as an encouraging move towards better transparency in Sabah government departments and hopefully accountability for this case as well as for other future commercial development ventures.

“Finally, we can learn the truth of how the 16-storey commercial building project got its approval”, says housewife Lim, who attended the court hearing today.

Meanwhile, Sabah heritage lovers were elated that the local authorities have finally cleared up some unsightly bushes that were obstructing KK city’s historical clock tower from public view.

“For more than 20 years, the historical clock tower was a forgotten piece of KK city history, obscured by a giant commercial billboard that was removed after some complaints were made”, says heritage advocate Richard Nelson Sokial, who wrote a commentary lamenting the lack of heritage appreciation for the clock tower in 2005.

“Last week, the local authorities cleared some of the bushes blocking in front of the clock tower. Now everyone in town can see the clock’s double-faced clock again. This is a step in the right direction.”

He attributed this positive development as a result of the Save Our Heritage Atkinson Clock Tower Campaign, a public awareness effort powered mostly by young Sabahans below the age of 35 in an attempt to save the clock tower’s historic site. He also praised the local authorities citing that this was a gesture of goodwill for the heritage conservation of the entire site.

“Hopefully more and more people will grow to appreciate our historical clock tower. People can now see the significance of the clock tower is as an enduring landmark of KK city”, he said adding that it was becoming more and more realistic for the public that the pristine, tree-covered area around the clock tower should be preserved as a public park, instead of being destroyed by the construction of a 16-storey modern commercial complex.

“It gives us hope that we can still save this site. The campaign has created a lot of buzz and awareness amongst the Sabahan people - especially young KK folk. To be part of saving local heritage is a strong indicator of the younger generation of Sabahans is becoming increasingly knowledgeable and vocal as to how they want their city and state of Sabah to be carefully planned and administered.”

He encouraged the public to visit the 106-year-old clock tower, which is still working and chimes hourly despite the roar of the city’s unending vehicular traffic.

“The ‘Save Our Heritage Atkinson Clock Tower’ campaign has captured the imagination of the Sabah youth community. They have been empowered – and support this campaign because it has given them a sense of pride, identity and love for KK city. It is also a testimony that young Sabahans today have a voice of their own and are able to make a positive contribution to the betterment of our society when they work towards a common goal of preserving heritage,” he said.



Kota Kinabalu city currently suffers from an influx of commercial shopping mall development projects, some of which are still empty and devoid of regular patrons. Despite these recent turn of events, however, the fate of the historical Atkinson Clock Tower site still remains in limbo.

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