19Sep

‘Tagal’ rivers have tourism potential

RANAU: The tagal system of river and fish conservation practiced in many villages in Sabah can be a tourism product with wide appeals. One fine example is the tagal on the Melout River, about 28km from here, which is jointly managed by the villages of Bayag, Gaur and Giring-Giring. The villages and the river had an important visitor recently in the person of Ranau Member of Parliament Datuk Dr Ewon Ebin who commended the villagers for their efforts in conservation, and encouraged them to develop it into a tourism product to share it with outsiders. (Tagal is operated according to native customs. A village or a cluster of villages may be involved in making a decision on how much of the river should be placed under tagal, how to enforce, how and when the tagal should be opened and who should benefit from the fish harvest.) Ewon said Melout is located sufficiently far from urban development and maintains a tranquil and unspoilt environment. Combined with the slow flowing river, rich flora and fauna, the river and the surrounding villages are potential tourism attractions,. “This is not yet on the tourism calendar … but the signs are that more and more are attracted to the beauty of nature as well as the unique tagal system where the people are themselves protecting the river and fish sources,” Ewon said during the opening of a rest chalet by the river recently. The tagal practice is quite wide spread in Sabah and some, for example in Penampang, have recently used it to attract tourists. “I believe that in three years’ time this area will become a tourist attraction as the access roads are improved,” said Ewon. He added that the natural beauty of the villages, the scenic river and the tagal will give rise to homestays and other tourism products. He urged villagers to consider introducing activities as cast net fishing to attract visitors. Jius Kumin the chairman of the tagal system, said the villagers have been imposing the tagal restrictions for the last three years. “It’s been good to us … not only have we been able to conserve resources like fish in the river, the surroundings also benefit directly because there is much less intrusion, and the villagers took ownership of what nature provides, and they look after them.” Jius also said that because of the collective responsibility of upkeeping the tagal, the villagers of the three kampong have grown closer, and they share the same love for the forests surrounding the villages as well. “We are proud of our tagal, and we want to maintain it so that it becomes as good as the one in Kampung Luanti (which has an international reputation) and out people can not only enjoy the tourism benefits, but also the fish we can harvest whenever the tagal is lifted.” He proposed that the lifting be August next year. Meanwhile, Ewon approved an application for six rolls of polyurethane pipes for the construction of a gravity water supply system in the area. The running water thus obtained will enable the construction of public toilets. Ewon pointed to the rapid growth in tourist arrivals from China and Korea in Sabah and that these are potential visitors to villages with the tagal system. Source: New Sabah Times
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11Sep

Bamboo and ginger pioneers honoured at festival

TAMBUNAN: Two bamboo and ginger pioneers in this area received certificates of appreciation at the district level Bamboo and Ginger Festival held at Pisompuruan Square here last Thursday. They are the late Peter Lupang Tingkalus, the bamboo pioneer, and Supilin Galingai, the ginger pioneer. Deputy Chief Minister cum Infrastructure Development Minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan, who officiated at the festival, presented the certificates to both recipients, with Mrs Cathrine Peter representing her late father in receiving his certificate. The late Peter hailed from Bingkor, Keningau and was a Forestry Department employee who worked as a Forest Guard in 1936. At the time, the number of bamboo plants in the Tambunan area had been greatly reduced due to uncontrolled bamboo consumption as it was used in almost all aspects of community life in the area. After realising the problem and worrying about the extinction of bamboo plants in the area, Peter along with OKK Taliban had embarked on a preliminary effort to control the cutting and harvesting of bamboo trees by issuing special permits. Special permits issued would be requested by the villagers on the condition that each one of the logged bamboos be replaced by planting 10 more bamboo shoots. This step proved to be effective even until today as the local community could see the number of bamboo groups growing throughout the district. The culture of planting bamboo among the population is still ongoing to this day and it is not surprising that in addition to being called ‘The Switzerland of the East’, Tambunan has also been proclaimed as the Bamboo Valley by a handful of outside communities. Meanwhile, Supilin, born May 4, 1960, is a married man with five children from Kampung Tikolod Tambunan. He started planting ginger in 1981, where ginger seeds were obtained from Yayang Sanat at Tamu Tambunan. After a year of planting ginger, he saw that this commodity crop had a very high potential as the climate and condition of Tambunan’s landscape were very suitable for this crop. He did not waste any time in making the decision to move from being a common cultivator to a grocery wholesaler to market the product outside the district around 1983. The results were a turning point for the progress and development of the ginger industry in the district as more people began to cultivate ginger. This was evident when many cultivators started opening and clearing forest areas to plant ginger on a larger scale. The existence of a single ginger wholesaler at the time provided an advantage to ginger cultivators as they could sell their ginger directly to Supilin without having to worry about marketing and transportation problems. Source : Borneo Post
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21Aug

Brunei folk visit water village in Weston

KOTA KINABALU: Attracted to the serene water village and its traditional food, 50 members of a mosque association from Brunei visited Weston, in Beaufort. Members of Masjid Utama Muhammad Salleh Pekan Bangar in Temburong, Brunei arrived at the water village on Aug 13. Led by the mosque imam Mohd Yussof Ahad, they did aerobics, took part in the Adai-Adai dance (of Sabah Brunei origin), eating ambuyat and had a boat tour around Weston.
Later in the evening before heading back to Brunei, the visitors had a chance to go for a sunset river cruise where they also had the opportunity to watch fireflies and proboscis monkeys. Yussof said their visit this time was to foster closer relation between the people of Brunei and Weston folk. “We are very near to each other, just about a 230km or six hours drive away and this trip is a great way to get to make new friends,” he said.
Yusof said the visitors were amazed to experience the small but wonderful tourist attraction for themselves. Meanwhile, the local communities who had the opportunity to spend time with the Bruneians, expressed their wish to visit the oil-rich country one day. “Making new friends and visiting each other’s hometowns are experiences worth exploring,” said chief woman leader for the Nurul Iman mosque in Weston, Norainah Salleh, 42. Source: The Star
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18Aug

Kiulu to develop its mulberry industry

KOTA KINABALU: Kiulu is going to develop its mulberry industry, said Sabah Tourism Board (STB) chairman Datuk Joniston Bangkuai. The Kiulu assemblyman said he hoped to turn Kiulu into a food hub for the production of local fruits as well as in the production of mulberry. He added that the climate and soil condition in Kiulu were suited for mulberry farming. Presently, mulberry is being planted at Kampung Tudan, an isolated village which is 50 kilometres away from Kiulu. The project was initiated by students participating in the National Enactus competition that was held in Kuala Lumpur recently. The students won the competition and would be going for the world cup competition which will be held in London next month. According to a senior director of the University Malaysia Sabah (UMS) Research and Entrepreneurial centre, Dr Bonaventure Boniface during a press conference held at the STB office near here yesterday, the students started the project five months ago and got the involvement of 56 people from the village cooperative. The villagers have planted 1,500 trees and have produced mulberry tea, skin whitening lotion utilising mulberry extracts and bottled sparkling water. “We hope STB can help us in marketing the products produced by the villagers,” said Dr Bonaventure. The proposal to market the products was received positively by STB and Joniston said STB had a marketing body, Sri Pelancongan, which could help promote the product at its network of shops. “We plan to open more shops in the future,” he said. He also told members of the cooperative from the village that plans have been made to improve the road from Tudan to Kiulu. He added that once the road was completed, it would be easier for the  the villagers to market their produce. The majority of the folk living in the village work as farmers but until recently, they have not been exposed to the true potential of the mulberry plants that are found in their village. The business of the villagers has also remained stagnant due to the lack of sales channels and communal cooperation among the villagers. The project, dubbed  the Morus project, has increased the monthly income of the villagers from RM517 per month to RM700. The project has also brought about better communal cooperation between the villagers through the establishment of the village cooperative and they also have been exposed to business and cultivation management through workshops conducted by Enactus UMS. In general, the aim of the project is to help the community to improve their living standard and economy. Source: The Borneo Post
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18Aug

Promoting rural tourism in Sabah

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is optimistic that rural tourism will gain popularity and benefit locals in the long run. Sabah Tourism Board chairman Datuk Joniston Bangkuai said the recent Rural Tourism roadshow held at a shopping mall was a success. "The two-day inaugural roadshow attracted 10,000 visitors and the number of people visting the four promoted places-Tambunan, Kiulu, Ranau, Kadamaian-is also increasing. "Most districts in the state have also activated their committees to develop rural tourism at their places," he said during a press conference on Universiti Malaysia Sabah's (UMS) Mulberry project with the people of Kampung Tudan. Joniston added rural tourism products would not only benefit the industry but also help to generate income among villagers. On the mulberry project at Kampung Tudan, which is about 50 kilometers from here, he said the villagers should consider setting up homestays. "Now that the village has become UMS' pilot project on mulberry cultivation with its leaves processed into tea, lotion and other items, it can be developed in eco and agrotourism," he said, adding the village is also producing stingless bee honey. Joniston, who is also Kiulu state assemblyman, added the road infrastructure to the village would soon be upgraded. The mulberry products, branded as Tudan Mulberry, will be marketed and sold via the board's subsidiary company Sri Pelancongan Sabah Sdn Bhd. Source: New Straits Times
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