Sunday, 6 July 2008

ICOMOS opposed to listing of Preah Vihear

By The Nation

The International Councils on Monuments and Sites is opposed to Cambodia's application to register Preah Vihear ruins as a world heritage site, the chief of Thailand's World Heritage Committee has said.Pongpol Adireksarn, who was attending the 32nd Session of the World Heritage Committee in Quebec from July 2 to 10, said the ICOMOS disagreed with the listing of Preah Vihear because the application did not meet basic requirements for the listing.

He said the fact that Cambodia sought to register the temple without its surrounding landscape became a main reason that prompted ICOMOS to be opposed to the listing.

Pongpol said ICOMOS expressed opposition to the registration of Preah Vihear as a world heritage site on the first meeting day.

According to Pongpol, normally an application for a world heritage site needed to meet 6 basic requirements but Cambodia asked ICOMOS to consider only 3 requirements.

Still, Cambodia met only one of the three requirements, Pongpol said.

He said ICOMOS endorsed the evidence of creativity thinking for the listing but ICOMOS saw that Cambodia failed to meet two other requirements because it failed to include parts of the ruins on Thai soils in the application.

"I see that ICOMOS' decision reduced bargaining power of Cambodia. And this supports Thailand's stand that the site must be jointly registered," Pongpol said.

"ICOMOS is a professional organisation and expressed its opinions based on reasons."

He said ICOMOS saw that without landscape registering, Preah Vihear Temple would lack its outstanding identity.

Pongpol said Preah Vihear application would be the last one to be considered by the World Heritage Committee on the second meeting day.

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