MASIDI: KEEP OUR ISLANDS CLEAN AND DON’T OVERWHELM THE FACILITIES

Minister of Tourism, Culture & Environment, Datuk Masidi Manjun.

By Nova Renata
Pictures by Oliver Majaham

During a press conference at the send-off ceremony of Air Asia’s inaugural flight from Kota Kinabalu to Hangzhou, Minister of Tourism, Culture & Environment Datuk Masidi Manjun stressed that the state’s cleanliness standard must be maintained at a high level for our own enjoyment and for the tourists.

He expressed disappointment that some of the islands such as the Sapi and other islands of the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park are not as clean as they should be.

Masidi said as  many tourists come to Sabah to enjoy the beautiful beaches and islands, it is  high time that the Sabah Parks authorities and other relevant authorities took more initiative to make the islands cleaner and more pleasant.

Littering will mar the quality of Sabah's otherwise beautiful tourism products.

In addition to calling on the relevant authorities to do more to maintain cleanliness, Masidi also urged tourism operators to keep their public amenities on the islands in tiptop condition.

"When we have more and more tourists coming, it's only logical that we should add more public restrooms and other facilities for the comfort and convenience of visitors," he said.

He also suggested that there should be a limit to the number of visitors to the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park at any one time, so as not to overwhelm the facilities there, and jeopardise the pristine state of these islands.

"We have seen the damage that was done to the  coral reefs when too many divers converged on a dive site at once. We must learn from these mistakes and make rules to limit the number of visitors so that we can preserve our islands," he said. - Insight Sabah

Sabah's beautiful islands and beaches are among some of its most treasured attractions.