Saving Burma's heritage from the bulldozers

Conservationists in Burma are fighting to save Rangoon's colonial heritage because of fears that many of its admired Raj-era buildings will be destroyed once sanctions against the government are lifted.

Their sense of urgency intensified last week after the United States and the European Union said they would begin lifting sanctions, following the success of Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party in by-elections.

Campaigners are concerned this will attract international developers, who are eyeing prime city centre sites that are home to many of the finest buildings.

Thant Myint-U, the Cambridge-educated Burmese historian and author, is campaigning, with support from the Department for International Development, to catalogue the former capital's colonial architecture.

His group believes they could not only attract thousands of tourists to one of Asia's last intact colonial districts, but also remind Burma, as it emerges from isolation, of its history as a hub of global trade. Many of Rangoon's 19th century buildings were commissioned by Scottish trading firms which dominated the city and whose imposing style is believed to have been influenced by Glasgow.

The British embassy in Strand Road was once the headquarters of J&F Graham & Company of Glasgow, while around the corner in Pansodan Street the empty Inland Water Transport building was once the Burma office of the Glasgow-based Irrawaddy Flotilla Company.

The Edinburgh architect John Begg built the Government Telegraph Office in 1911, as well as the press buildings opposite the gothic Central Secretariat, where in 1947, Miss Suu Kyi's father, General Aung San, was assassinated.

George Orwell once stayed at one of the only colonial buildings to have been restored sympathetically - the Strand Hotel - during his time in Burma as a policeman. The Pegu Club, once the retreat of British officers and officials, has not fared so well. It hosted Rudyard Kipling in 1889, but today serves only as a touchline for children playing football on its drive. The building has been locked to prevent further damage, but most of its wooden annexes are tumbling down.

The exodus of officials to the new capital Naypyidaw since 2005 has left many white elephants, abandoned to decay and cared for by a few sleeping guards. Thant believes the lifting of sanctions poses an immediate threat to Rangoon's heritage. He and his colleagues in the Yangon Heritage Trust want new conservation laws to protect the buildings.

Although the group have won a temporary reprieve while officials consider how much of the past they want to save, conserving colonial architecture is not a popular cause. William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, voiced his interest in the project when he was given a guided tour during his visit in January, but Thant believes assistance from Burma's old rulers may be counterproductive.

"There are people for whom the colonial relationship is no great thing, that's why it's important we have support from elsewhere," he said.

Instead, he and his colleagues have announced a conference in May to detail planning laws to protect Burma's heritage. It will coincide with the release of a book on Rangoon's British heritage by the historian and writer Sarah Rooney, who said she was surprised at the affection the city's people have for them.

"I thought there would be some antagonistic feeling towards the buildings because they are a reminder of a not glorious part of Burmese history, but I haven't met a single person who doesn't want the buildings to stay, they are a reminder of the city they grew up in. You can't erase history and pretend it didn't happen."