Malaysia's Sungai Batu Complex Ready To Be Recognised As World Heritage Site

ALOR SETAR (Kedah, Malaysia), July 26 (Bernama) -- Universiti Sains Malaysia’s Global Archaeological Research Centre is ready to present its research papers on the Sungai Batu Archaeological Complex in Bujang Valley to the National Heritage Department to be endorsed as a world heritage site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). Its director Professor Dr Mokhtar Saidin said the necessary data were sufficient to take the Sungai Batu Complex into becoming a world heritage site and was only waiting for the response of the National Heritage Department. “It is the responsibility of the National Heritage Department to take it to Unesco and get its recognition. We at USM, if we are appointed as consultant to write the proposal or dossier, only then will we do it. But we are ready if they ask us to do it. “We do not have any problems submitting it as we have the experience of writing working papers and all the necessary data from 2007 until now are ready,” he said. Mokhtar was speaking to reporters after the launching ceremony of a discussion on the state’s history and culture at the State Museum here Tuesday. The event was officiated by the Sultan of Kedah’s Principal Private Secretary Syed Unan Mashri Syed Abdullah and was also attended by the Assistant to the President of the Thaksin University in Thailand, Thaweesak Putsukee. Mokhtar said the centre started excavation works at the Sungai Batu Complex in 2009 and had successfully compiled data on the Old Kedah civilisation since the 1840s. He said part of the excavations included prayer monuments, riverside jetties, port administrative monuments and iron workshops. He added that the discoveries at Sungai Batu were significant as the data compiled showed the complex existed from the 6th Century BC until the 17th Century AD, over 1,000 square kilometres. All the artifacts proved that the people of Sungai Batu civilisation which existed around 535 BC were highly skilled and had the technology to melt iron and export iron ingots. “If the discoveries at the Sungai Batu Complex gets Unesco recognition, it would make it easier for preservation efforts to be carried out as there would be more international funds available,” he said. -- BERNAMA