After crane failure, owner of 99-door mansion in Penang ordered to restore building according to heritage guidelines, says state exco

Source: Malay Mail
Author: Opalyn Mok

GEORGE TOWN, March 14 -- The Seberang Perai City Council (MBSP) has issued a notice ordering the owner of the 99-door mansion in Nibong Tebal to restore the building to its original condition.

Local Government Committee chairman Jason H'ng Mooi Lye said the owner will have to repair the damage to the mansion in accordance with heritage guidelines and procedures.

He said the authorities were unable to access the site after news spread on social media that the mansion was damaged after a crane fell and crashed into it.

It is believed that the crane, belonging to a film production company, fell onto a section of the mansion on March 4, destroying portions of the roof and walls.

H'ng said the authorities did not receive any reports of the incident and that he found out about it through social media.

"The police and MBSP did not receive any reports of the incident, and when we went to the site the day after the incident, on March 5, the gate was locked," he said during a press conference in Komtar today.

He said the mansion is privately owned and had been left vacant for many years.

"Since it is privately owned and the gate was locked, we cannot enter the premises to check on the condition of the building as it would be considered trespassing," he said.

He said MBSP was then ordered to issue the notice to the building owner to restore the mansion.

"The mansion is listed as a heritage building by MBSP, but it was not gazetted under the National Heritage Act," he said.

He said MBSP had proposed for the mansion, built in the early 19th century, to be gazetted under the National Heritage Act.

"It cannot be gazetted as a national heritage building because it is privately owned and the owner has to be the one to submit the application for it to be gazetted," he said.

He said the mansion owner must take the initiative to apply for it to be gazetted and MBSP can assist in the application if the need arises.

The 99-door mansion, located in Jalan Byram, also known as Caledonia House, caught fire about four years ago during which portions of its roof and structure were damaged.

The mansion, surrounded by oil palm estate, was built in the 1840s by a British sugar tycoon.

It has 10 rooms, a dance hall, and a balcony with multiple doors for each room that earned it the name "99-door" mansion.

The manor was also used as a headquarters by the Japanese army during World War II.

After the war, the eldest son of the baronet who owned the mansion then, John St Maur Ramsden, returned to the home.

He was murdered when he was shot twice in the head in June 1948 just as he was walking up the grand staircase of the mansion.

His murder remains unsolved and the ownership of the plantation along with the house has changed several hands since.

The mansion remained vacant and was left in a dilapidated state for many years which led to stories that it was haunted.