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number of historical buildings in the Kota Lama area of Padang, West Sumatra, are likely to be omitted from a list of heritage sites.

Most of them are in a state of severe damage caused by a 7.9-magnitude earthquake that occurred on Sept. 30, 2009, while others have been replaced with new buildings. Most of them have also been renovated by their owners, thus losing their original form.

According to Batusangkar Cultural Heritage Center (BPCB) head Fitra Arda Sambas, 74 of the heritage buildings in the Kota Lama district were designated as heritage sites through a Padang mayoral decree in 1998.

'€œAfter the earthquake, we verified and issued a recommendation in 2010 to remove 14 buildings from the inventory list because they were not worthy of being on the list. Some of them have even disappeared and been replaced with new buildings,'€ Fitra said on Thursday.

The buildings, most of which are from the Dutch colonial era, are spread across five zones, namely the Batang Arau zone (Muaro Padang), Pasa Gadang zone, Ganting-Parak Gadang zone, Jl. Muara-Jl. Gereja zone and Bagindo Aziz Chen-Jl. Sudirman zone.

Eight of the buildings were severely damaged in the earthquake and had to be demolished, while others have been replaced with new buildings, including the Ambacang Hotel, PT Kerta Niaga warehouse, Minangcaissa warehouse, PT Kerta Niaga office, Bukit Barisan Military Command engineering office, Hotel Natour Muaro, Agnes Elementary School building and Padang Cathedral.

Hotel Ambacang has been replaced by Hotel Axana and Hotel Natour Muaro has been replaced by the new Hotel Grand Inna Muara.

Five other buildings, renovation of which was canceled as they lost their original form after being refurbished by their owners, are the Hong Jang Hoo building, PT Dharma Niaga office/BPD/CV Purwasari building, Tan Clan meeting hall and Andreas CH residence.

The former police'€™s Mobile Brigade (Brimob) headquarters on Jl. Sudirman, which was a long time ago replaced by the Bank Indonesia building, and the Districshoofd Klasse Monument have also been proposed to be erased from the list. According to Fitra, since the earthquake, the BPCB has carried out a number of activities, such as restoring damaged buildings, with funds from the state budget as well as aid from third parties.

The BPCB has faced difficulties in providing aid to renovate a number of privately-owned buildings because it was not allowed to use government funds, which are earmarked for restoration activities and reconstruction of residents'€™ houses.

Padang Tourism and Culture Office head Dian Fakri said his office had yet to decide the number of buildings to be erased from the list.

The mayoral decree to approve the new list, Dian said, would be issued later this year.

'€œPrivately-owned buildings cannot be renovated by using state funds. We will help the owners meet businessmen who will lease and renovate the buildings for business purposes, such as for hotels and restaurants,'€ he said.