CommunityNEWS

The damaged and unmaintained murals are not under MBI but on private land – Mayor

By Aida Aziz

IPOH: Several murals in this city that are already damaged and faded hence marring the scenery, are located on private premises and not under the administration of the Ipoh City Council (MBI).

Ipoh Mayor, Datuk Rumaizi Baharin, said they are constantly initiating efforts to maintain the murals under their care, in collaboration with the Perak Artists Association and Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM).

However, he mentioned that they can only advise the relevant parties to enhance and repair severely damaged and neglected murals.

“We have indeed collaborated with the Perak Artists Association and UiTM early last year, and it was carried out in stages.

“Some murals have been improved, while others are still in process. For instance, in Lorong Panglima or Art Lane and Riverfront.

“In areas near the Riverfront, we plan to create new murals. As for the damaged murals as mentioned before, they are on private premises.

“The local authority can only advise them; in these shop houses, our constraint is because the murals were created on private land and unless the landowners permit, only then can we do something,” he said when met recently.

He further clarified that all allocations for improving the murals under their care come from MBI itself.

Previously, Ipoh Echo and Peraktastic reported that many tourists from both domestic and international destinations were disappointed with the fate of murals that had faded and were no longer as vibrant as they were touted to be.

One foreign visitor, Mackenzie Boyer, 31, from Austin, Texas, United States, came to Ipoh solely to see the mural paintings on Jalan Masjid, Taman Jubilee, here, but left disappointed because they were no longer as beautiful as they had been advertised.

In any case, the parties involved need to collaborate to ensure the success of the Visit Perak Year coming soon. The dismal state of the murals, to some extent, tarnishes the image of tourism in the state.

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