GEORGE TOWN: Fort Cornwallis is set to be a major tourist attraction following plans to open up the excavation site to tourists and history buffs.
Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said he had directed state authorities and the George Town World Heritage Incorporated (GTWHI) to do this.
Chow said this following the discovery of 200 year-old cannons and World War II ammunition in its car park.
Two cannons that were excavated from the site since Feb 18 last year were today formally handed over by the Centre for Global Archaeological Research (CGAR) to the state government.
Another cannon is in the process of being recovered.
A similar excavation site in Gua Kepah on the mainland can also be opened to tourists, CGAR director Prof Datuk Dr Mokhtar Saidin said.
Chow said that the huge archaeologist sites were treasures of Penang and that included the rain forests which are over 2,000 years old.
“Penang was only discovered 200 years ago but our forests have been around much longer that that. We must learn to appreciate this.”
Later, Mokhtar said that historical accounts showed that there were 140 cannons in Cornwallis, of which 17 were displayed there, two were excavated last year, one remained buried, while three were located at the E & O Hotel here.
He said that there were plans to locate the remaining cannons.
He described the site as a rich trove of archaeological treasures that deserves to be preserved and conserved.
GTWHI general manager Dr Ang Ming Chee said that part of the car park will be rezoned as an excavation site.
The car park land belongs to the Chief Minister Incorporated.
