Deputy minister Waytha wants panel to monitor Lembah Bujang heritage sites

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department P. Waythamoorthy (pic) today called for a special committee to be set up to monitor the preservation of heritage sites in Bujang Valley.

Stressing that there should be no compromise on protection of national heritage, he urged Putrajaya to ensure that all historical sites in the valley be identified and gazetted.

Waytha called for a committee comprising officers from the National Heritage Department, local and federal government as well as independent expert members to oversee all aspects of heritage management and make recommendations on protection measures.

Waytha who is also Hindu Rights Action Force chairman, pointed out that funding for this purpose was available from the United Nations and the World Heritage Fund, as provided by the Heritage Act 2005. . 

He said the recent discovery of jetties dating back to 487BC in the Bujang valley and the similarity in the bricks and smelting systems with the Gandhara area in Kashmir - part of the Indus Valley civilisation - substantiate the need to  identify and gazette all the sites in the area.

"As it stands now, it appears only 17 tomb temples (candi) have been registered when there are more 127 sites and 90 other candis identified," said Waytha.

Saying the National Heritage Department had not been proactive in conserving and safeguarding Lembah Bujang, Waytha cited a 1987 Unesco report recommending the government to create a National Historical Park to preserve the archaeological sites found in the area.

The Bujang valley is home to the oldest man-made structure recorded in Southeast Asia - a clay brick monument nearly two millennia old.

Excavations on the site have uncovered jetty remains, iron smelting sites and relics with Hindu and Buddhist influences that point a Hindu-Buddhist kingdom dating back to 110 CE.

Some temple ruins were said to have been demolished in recent years. The demolition of one such ruin, Candi 11, was discovered by researcher Datuk V. Nadarajan, who heads the non-governmental organisation Bujang Valley Study Circle.

The public outcry which followed resulted in the Kedah state government ordering development works near the site to be stopped.