KOTA KINABALU: Heritage lovers here have won a small battle in their fight to block the construction of a high-rise commercial building that would dwarf the Atkinson Clock Tower.
The High Court has allowed social activist Lim Swee Geck to add City Hall and the Central Town and Country Planning Board as respondents in her application for an order to prevent the proposed construction. Her initial application, filed last September, named only the Sabah Housing and Town Development Authority (SHTDA).
Judge David Wong also allowed the inclusion of another activist, Chang Chiew Kok @ Jefferi Johan, as co-applicant in the suit.
The suit is in the form of an application for a judicial review of the decision to construct the commercial complex. Wong will make the review on March 4.
Lim and Chang claim that SHTDA committed an illegal act when it approved the plan for the 16-storey complex, which would stand just a few metres away from the clock tower.
They contend that the plan contravened the Sabah Antiquities and Treasure Trove Enactment as well as the Cultural Heritage Enactment and that this justified including City Hall and the planning board as respondents.
They allege that City Hall and the planning board failed to ensure that the local plans for the area were up to date and approved by the head of state in a timely manner.
The all-wood-and-no-nails Atkinson Tower was gazetted as a heritage building in 1983. It was built in 1905 in memory of Francis George Atkinson, the first district officer of Kota Kinabalu, then known as Jesselton. Atkinson died of Borneo fever in 1902 at the age of 28.
The tower is said to be the oldest standing built structure in all of Sabah. - FMT
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