The Dilemma of Conserving Colonial Infrastructure

Colonial infrastructure facilities, which once served as the pathway for transporting minerals (gold and iron ore), played a crucial role in the state of Kelantan's development. The recognition of this post-colonial heritage is of growing interest to the young Kelantanese and the new generation of administrators. However, with the state government, there is an element of uncertainty to recognise the bridges because, to some Kelantanese, the bridges represented the exploitation and oppression by a foreign power over the state and dehumanising the people as peasants. The history of the colonist and the material traces of their presence and culture are not, even today, peacefully assumed as an endogenous heritage to be preserved and conserved. For this reason, their conservation is considered unnecessary because they symbolise a reality intended to be left behind. Despite this, destroying these very sturdy bridges would not be practical because since day one of their operations, no doubt, they were built to transport gold, iron ores and other products for the British but at the same time were providing mobility to the many isolated villages.