Why we should corporatise Penang Botanic Gardens
Writer says a new management body is needed to run the PBG as a proper botanic garden, not a park.
By Dr Saw Leng Guan
I wish to refer to the two articles published in The Star newspaper on Nov 27 and 28, 2017 (by K Suthakar and K Suthakar & Cavina Lim respectively) on the corporatisation of Penang Botanic Gardens (PBG) under the Penang State Park (Botanic) Corporation Enactment.
We wish to thank Aliran and others in the two articles for expressing their concerns over some provisions of the enactment.
Penang Botanic Gardens has a very long history. It is the oldest botanic garden in Malaysia, having been established in 1884. Over the years, its role as a botanical institution has declined due to, among others, staffing and funding issues. However, the biggest impediment was the lack of understanding and vision for Penang Botanic Gardens as a real botanic garden by policymakers and managers of the garden; as a centre of excellence for botanical research, conservation, education and recreation.
The state government of Penang has over the years tried to overcome this major hurdle. If one studies the recent history of PBG, you will find many studies conducted, and many recommendations made that tried to address these issues.
All of these have failed due to the state being unable to make administrative and structural changes that can allow a pool of professional botanists and horticulturists to lead PBG in the correct vision and direction.
In effecting these recommendations and implementing changes to Penang Botanic Gardens, the current state government is now using a two-step process:
1. Making a legal framework for PBG to run as a corporate body so that it can hire the right people and institute botanical garden development in its roles and functions – corporatisation of the garden was passed in the Enactment of the Penang State Park (Botanic) Corporation Enactment 2017 on Nov 14, 2017; and
2. Developing a fully functional master plan for turning PBG into a premier botanical garden – Penang Botanic Gardens – special area plan (SAP). The SAP follows the provisions of the Town and Country Planning Act 1976 (Act 172).
3. Allowing the Penang Botanic Garden to be operated and run as a botanic garden and not as a park. The confusion of treating the botanic garden as a park has caused more harm than good. This is why a new management body under a corporate body with qualified experts and professionals is needed.
I still remember Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng relating to me the travails of Datuk Tengku Idaura when she was appointed as the first botanic garden “master”, facing bureaucratic servants who made it almost impossible to bring about any changes. A fresh and new management approach is required, devoid of interference by non-expert bureaucrats.
The enactment now allows the state government to employ and keep talents that can run PBG as a proper botanic garden. It also has provisions to institute changes that previously, as a department, it could not.
As to concerns expressed in both articles, the corporation objectives of the enactment are very clear as to its role (Article 4). By virtue of the enactment, the activities and functions of the corporatised PBG are governed by these objectives.
The enactment currently has a provision to charge fees. This is not something new to Penang Botanic Gardens. PBG currently charges fees for events using the garden’s facilities or the grounds of the garden. The provision to impose fees is within the state’s right, even without the current enactment.
However, the garden recognises that its largest visitor group are the people of Penang. It is very unlikely that the garden will charge fees for general visitors under the corporation. However, the provision in the enactment will enable fee collection if required, for example, for special exhibits or displays that the garden may develop in the future. This is basically to cover running costs that these exhibits may incur.
Fee charges are quite normal in many botanic gardens in the world. Of course, there are also many gardens where a general entrance fee is not collected. Fee charges will likely be imposed when the Penang Botanic Garden obtains Unesco World Heritage status, if ever.
I wish now to turn my attention to the Penang Botanic Gardens SAP. As mentioned in the Nov 28 article, the PBG-SAP was presented and amended in 2016. However, due to a number of concerns expressed by the consultants of PBG at that time, the PBG-SAP was not gazetted.
In February, the state planning committee decided to have a second review of the draft by a new consultant. This has now been completed. The new draft includes most of the elements of the older version, but amendments have been made to make the SAP more congruent throughout its chapters to the vision, mission and objectives of Penang Botanic Gardens.
This draft will be subjected to review by a panel in December. Input from this panel will further improve the draft. After this, it will be subjected to a public hearing, likely in the first quarter of 2018.
Following this, the state should be able to gazette the PBG-SAP. So, there will still be a process of public scrutiny towards the PBG-SAP. The public will be informed once the state government has finalised the draft PBG-SAP.
Thank you.
Dr Saw Leng Guan is curator of the Penang Botanic Gardens.
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The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.