LENGGONG Valley in Perak could lose its United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) certification if something is not done to overcome the level of neglect at the historical site, reports The Star.

“It is sad that we are a trained society but not educated, and what I mean by that is that we don’t have an appreciation of knowledge,” former heritage commissioner Emeritus Professor Zuraina Majid was quoted as saying in the report when referring to the current state Lenggong is in.

A visit to the site by the newspaper showed abandoned archaeological sites at Bukit Bunuh. Open trenches were left exposed to the elements and were filled with rainwater, with shrubs growing inside.

The site is located in a former rubber estate but is now an oil palm plantation.

The report said that at the Kota Tampan archaeological site, wooden shelters and information signposts were also falling apart.

Half of the roof tiles were gone, exposing the site to sun and rain, and the area was overgrown with foliage.

Lenggong Valley’s archaeological sites comprises open-air and cave sites. They consist of Cluster 1 and Cluster 2, separated by Lenggong town. The sites are located in a valley between two mountain ranges, the Titiwangsa Range and Bintang Range.

Cluster 1 comprises the open-air sites of Bukit Bunuh and Kota Tampan while Cluster 2 is made up of Bukit Jawa, Bukit Kepala Gajah and Bukit Gua Harimau.

The two clusters, which are 5km apart, combine to make up the Lenggong Unesco World Heritage site.

Lenggong was declared a world heritage site on June 30, 2012, following which, work to prepare the Lenggong Valley Conservation Management Plan (CMP) was submitted to Unesco in 2014.

In 2014, then tourism, arts and culture minister  Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said the CMP would manage and develop tourism in Lenggong Valley.

But due to lack of funds and a jurisdiction problem between Putrajaya and the Perak government, none of the plans went ahead.

Instead, Lenggong Valley slowly began to deteriorate and the archaeological sites became more inaccessible to the public as basic facilities, like signboards, wakaf spots, footbridges and boardwalks, began decaying due to neglect.

Many of the sites are also being abandoned because they are unsafe, such Gua Gunung Runtuh, the cave where the Perak Man was found. – December 21, 2019.