Jan 23, 2010
Heritage protection for neglected church
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Sad state: Sim looking at the ruins of the Ermida do Rosario in Malacca Friday . |
MALACCA: The ruins of a 17th century church next to the Malacca River in Pangkalan Rama will finally get some protection from heritage authorities.
The Ermida do Rosario, or The Church of Rosary, was a Portuguese chapel built on the site of the Church of St Lawrence.
It was either destroyed or allowed to fall into ruins during the first decade of the Dutch occupation of Malacca in 1641 and was subsequently taken over by St Peter’s Church, which was erected nearby in 1710.
The National Heritage Department has allocated RM20,000 to carry out necessary work to give the historical site due recognition following the media highlighting the issue.
Heritage Commissioner Datuk Prof Zurina Abdul Majid said field work on the historical ruins would commence once the department finalised plans for the site.
Besides the site being used as a dumping ground, heavy machinery employed for the nearby proposed monorail project had resulted in damage to a section of the ruins.
Kota Melaka MP Sim Tong Him said he raised the issue of the site’s state of neglect in Parliament last December following numerous complaints by heritage conservationists.
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