In a Nov. 19, 2014 article, The Borneo Post reported that the Sarawak Minister of Social Development, Tan Sri William Mawan (whose portfolio includes heritage) addressed the following points in his winding-up speech to the State assembly meeting on Nov. 18:

– He confirmed that the State Government is working on an application for UNESCO World Heritage listing of the Kuching Waterfront area, with the objective of a nomination in 2015.

– He recalled recent and on-going heritage conservation projects (Fort Margherita, with its Brookes Gallery project,  Fort Alice) and projects under preparation for Kuching (Heritage Trail,  new Sarawak Museum Campus – designs being finalized and ground works to start by end 2014).

– The Museum will renew emphasis on programmes, in particular on archaeology (Sarawak River Delta, Niah Caves, Kelabit Highlands) in 2015.

– He also confirmed that “a new Museum of Modern Sarawak to be located at the north bank of Sarawak river in the Heritage Square, is also being designed. In this respect, we need to document our history in an orderly manner, in enabling us to chart our developmental progress and achievements since independence.” .

– He touched on the Cultural Heritage Ordinance 1993 by calling for listing of more private heritage buildings and reported on-going strengthened enforcement of the licensing regulations on import and export of antiques.

Source/ read more :

Call for nomination of Kuching Waterfront to become Unesco World Heritage site

For more on the Museum of Modern Sarawak project, to showcase Sarawak’s achievements since 1963, see this page from the website of NAIM, a major Sarawak construction company which has been awarded the contract of this sizeable project.

For more on the Sarawak Government’s Kuching Heritage Trail project and on the new Sarawak Museum campus, see earlier news articles in our post of 31 Oct. 2014 “A selection of press articles on Sarawak heritage (2010 to early Sept. 2014)”