No more leasing out Sabah Parks lands

Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah state Government has frozen all applications to rent lease from Sabah Parks pending a move to take over powers held by the latter’s board of trustees to approve leases for companies to set up resorts.

State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun, said the decision was made by the State Cabinet in the wake of the abduction of two foreign tourists foreigners in Semporna on April 2.

“We have decided to temporarily freeze all applications.

Security is extremely important in Sabah’s agenda to convince tourists that our place is safe. The State government is in a better position to evaluate the suitability of any area leased by Sabah Parks for the purpose of setting up resorts.

“The land lease applications are frozen pending new regulations.

It would involve re-organisation of Sabah Parks’ functions as well as the need for us to have the monitoring power to ensure they make good decisions based on security and utilisation of the lands,” he said.

This, he said, would also deter cases of overdevelopment of islands in the state.

Sabah Parks is a conservation-based statutory body established in 1962 with the purpose of conserving the scenic, scientific and historic heritage of the state.

The organisation is also responsible for the management and promotion of the various protected reserves in Sabah, in particular those designated as national parks. It is also mandated to develop tourism-friendly facilities to accommodate tourist arrivals to these reserves and ensure that the state of the reserves is not compromised.

Source: Daily Express