UNESCO Declares Malaysia's Lenggong Valley World Heritage Site

BUKIT MERTAJAM (Penang,Malaysia), July 2 (Bernama) -- The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) declared Lenggong Valley in Hulu Perak as a world heritage site, at its conference Sunday. Information, Communications and Culture Minister Dr Rais Yatim in disclosing this, said the declaration was made following the discovery of artefacts which were more than 1.8 million years old through excavation works by the country's archaeologists for the past 20 years. "With this development involving the Lenggong Valley, we have another heritage site under UNESCO to add to Penang, Melaka, Mount Kinabalu and Mulu Caves. "This is a very meaningful achievement by the government and people which we can be proud of," he told reporters after attending a 1Malaysia Community programme with the villagers of Kampung Penanti, here, Sunday. He said the ministry would collate and record all the data related to the discoveries to provide more information to the public. Rais also said the ministry and Perak government would look into a joint study on the Lenggong Valley's socio, cultural and heritage development. Earlier, in his speech, Rais advised Penangites to remain united so that everyone progressed at the same pace. "Our culture teaches us to help one another, so let's not lose ourselves and forget others just because we have differences," he said. -- BERNAMA