Historical Tawau site restored
Published on: Tuesday, June 13, 2006 Daily Express
Tawau: The historical 88-year-old Bell Tower or the Belfry
received a new lease of life with the completion of restoration
works costing RM23,000 initiated by the Rotary Club of Tawau (RCT)
here.
A ceremony to mark the auspicious occasion was held Monday when
the Club officially handed over the restored Belfry to its
caretaker, the State Museum.
RCT President T. Arulanathan said Rotarians here were proud to
have completed the mission who had their share of hard times
like when they had to convince the Forestry Department that they
were transporting timber for the restoration works.
"It took us a few months to get clearance from the Forestry
Department just to transport timber from Tingkayu Kunak to Tawau
sawmill in spite of showing proof that the timber was for the
purpose of this building," he said, wishing that government
departments and agencies would be more responsive and
cooperative towards initiatives by NGOs in making contributions
to society.
The Bell Tower built by war prisoners in 1921
with funding from Japanese businessmen is a significant
structure to the district since it is the only building that had
survived World War Two.
Among the features of the Belfry was the Bench Mark under its
foundation, which shows the town's elevation above sea level,
apart from being the starting point of the distance to every
place.
The East Direction to Dunlop Street, Kuhara Road, Sin On Road
and Apas Road; South direction faces the sea; West direction to
Tg Batu Road; North direction to North Road and Merotai Road.
Arulanathan said over the years people tend to forget about old
things and the Belfry was no exception as it was getting into a
sorry state and near collapse.
He attributed Past President of the Club, William Tully, as the
person responsible of bringing up the matter to the club's
attention and started the ball rolling by donating RM5,000 to
shoulder part of the restoration cost.
In July 2004, the State Museum gave the Club permission to
rebuild it back to its original design and specifications, which
"was quite difficult, as they had to get the same type of
materials as well as needing human and financial resources."
"Luckily, among our members there were a few who with their good
office offered good response (as seen from the result of the
effort today)," he said.
Names of those who had assisted in kind and cash, as well as
efforts were also mentioned, including names and organizations
of those had contributed in the restoration works besides Tully.
They were Duta Plantation management and General Manager Kanan
Kutty for the sawn bilian timber, Datuk Quah for donating
RM4,000 worth of singles for the roofing, Pang Pak Lok for
sawing the billian timber according to the specified sizes in
his factory, Mattais Chin for the architectural drawings and
design advice, William Cheong, Patrick Chin, Nicholas Chung for
the historical records, Municipal Council and Rotarians for
their cash donations.
In the ceremony also attended by MP Shim Paw Fatt and Sri
Tanjung Assemblyman, Samson Chin, Arulanathan officially handed
over the Belfry to the State Museum represented by East Coast
Regional Museum officer-in-charge, Juanis Ogok and
representatives of State Museum Director, Datuk Joseph Pounis
Guntavid.
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