KUCHING: The human remains from Niah Cave, currently in Nevada, USA are expected to be brought back to Sarawak this year for public viewing.
Over 100 human remains found in the Niah Cave and the surrounding areas have been brought to USA decades ago for scientific research purposes.
Sarawak Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the study had been completed and it was time for the remains to return home.
"Efforts to bring them home is necessary because we want to make the Niah Cave a world heritage site.
"We will display the skeletons as proof that the Niah Cave was the oldest recorded human settlement in the state," he added.
He said this when met after launching the Program Bermalam Di Muzium (A Night At The Museum), here yesterday.
Abdul Karim said he was informed the remains were well cared for by the university that conducted the study and the state government are making efforts to bring them home.
"We hope to be able to do so by end of this year, because I was informed that the researchers had agreed to return them.
"The earliest human remain that inhabit the Niah Cave are our heritage," he said, adding that the full cost of transporting the skeletons back would be borne by the state government.
Meanwhile, Abdul Karim said efforts are now being undertaken to gazette the Niah Cave National Park as another world heritage site in the state.
He said the documentation process to get United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) recognition is expected to take about five years.
"The Niah Cave National Park should be recognised as a world heritage site for being the oldest settlement in the state with the discovery of human remains estimated to be 50,000 years old in the area," he said.