AS George Town celebrates its fourth anniversary as a Unesco World Heritage site and Perak's Lenggong Valley last month joined the ranks of Malaysia's four other Unesco sites which have been inscribed on the prestigious map, the country can look to welcoming more cultural tourists and those constantly looking out for emerging heritage and eco-tourism gems.

Apart from George Town and Malacca, Malaysia's other Unesco World Heritage sites include Kinabalu Park and Gunung Mulu National Park.

Just as visitors and residents of Penang are currently enjoying the month-long George Town Festival where art, culture and heritage are being showcased through various events and mediums, the archaeological area of the Lenggong Valley in Hulu Perak will undoubtedly serve as a magnet in drawing interest and giving the local economy a boost.

The hard work of archaeologists, who have been exploring the valley for more than two decades, will now be recognised globally as people start making a beeline for the area, described as an open-air museum, boasting an Aladdin's Cave of drawings, pre-historic weapons and jewellery which are said to date back 11,000 years.

In chasing the tourism dollar and offering yet another attraction which needs to be developed and carefully marketed, the urgent need in crafting a heritage site management plan and a special area plan to safeguard these spots should not be taken lightly.

While state authorities are mindful of the need to develop these blueprints to safeguard their respective World Heritage Site status, the urgency in mapping these out and getting Unesco's World Heritage Committee to endorse them does not appear to be a priority.

In the case of George Town - home to the region's largest pool of pre-war properties - the crafting and submission of the George Town World Heritage site management plan and its Special Area Plan to Unesco appears to be a work-in-progress.

Although the state authorities said in May that they would be submitting the two plans to Unesco "as soon as possible", it has been reported that both documents are in the process of being completed and will be presented to Unesco only by March 1 next year.

A site management plan is essentially a concrete management programme which combines general strategies and policies with specific goals relating to the significance and setting of a particular site, and used to manage the spot over the long term.

Similar to a local plan developed in different states, the need for a heritage-listed area to have such a plan is vital, if planning controls and guidance to property developers or any other investors for an area are to be given.

Penang residents will only remember too well how four property developers with projects sited within George Town's heritage core and buffer zones found themselves in a spot when an issue relating to height restriction delayed some of the projects.

Malaysia remained a blank spot on the World Heritage map for Asia for more than a decade after being a party to the World Heritage Convention in 1988, before it decided to nominate various sites for inscription on the World Heritage List.

Having come this far and boasting of such inspiring sites such as George Town and its endless charms to the rest of the world, it would be such a shame to lose it all, simply in the name of foot-dragging when it comes to strengthening and operationalising those much-required heritage management plans.