The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) has been given the green light to redevelop Carcosa Seri Negara as a tourist attraction, said the ministry’s secretary-general Datuk Isham Ishak.

He said an evaluation on Carcosa Seri Negara located next to Kuala Lumpur Lake Gardens in the federal capital is being carried out including a forensic study on the level of structural safety of the colonial building.

“The forensic evaluation and study will enable MOTAC to formulate proposals to the government on how the building could be preserved and given a fresh breath as a tourist attraction,” he told reporters here today after attending a ceremony to announce the 2018 domestic tourism performance by the minister, Datuk Mohamaddin Ketapi.

The media had earlier reported that the colonial building had been handed to a company to manage but the government via Land and Mines director-general had ordered it to be vacated as the company had not paid any rent for the building since 2017.

In another development, Isham said the tourism director in each state had been ordered to monitor all accommodation premises including resorts to look at the stipulated level of safety compliance. 

The order came into effect yesterday following the death of Irish teenager Nora Anne Quoirin after going missing from her room at a resort in Negeri Sembilan on Aug 3 in which the resort was reported to be not equipped with closed-circuit television (CCTV), he said.

“The business license and requirement to install CCTV is under the purview of the local authorities but for rating under MOTAC, the provision of safety equipment would taken into consideration as among the factors in the grading of a tourist accommodation premises,” he said.