Centre to help rural Muruts
TENOM: Marais Centre located in Kemabong sub-district is the latest tourist spot after Rundum Highlands that features Murut traditional culture. According to the founder Samwise Loh Wee Khee, it was formerly a local community training centre. But after getting a good response from the villagers, it was converted to the Marais Centre which hoped to increase the income of the community here. Among the daily activities based on sociocultural and cultural tourism products as well as the handicraft of the Murut tribes to be presented to the world community.
“First of all, from the community training center activity, for the skills or skills to youths who want to progress, we have a group for the seminar vision of tourism, “Just like one vision, we work together to make small projects first,” he said, to the media after receiving a visit to the centre by Tenom MP Noorita Sual. He explained that the Marais centre offers tourism packages such as weaving, bicycling, rice processing, traditional cooking, fish netting, hair-cutting and traditional dance performances and more. He said some of the revenue earned would be used to establish a cooperative to facilitate the villagers in managing it better and more systematically. Noorita said the government, welcomed this effort to help villagers get out of poverty and is an example that the people can be proud of.
“As far as I know in Tenom this is the first project and I think for other areas this is rarely seen.“This tourism project is something to be proud of because Marais villagers have the initiative and with the assistance of Sam, the villagers here can set up the centre which at least can increase the population’s income,” she said. A villager from Kg Marais, James Rangi 40, said with the Marais centre, their lives were much better than before. Since its opening on April 27, 2018, to date, more than 200 tourists have come to visit it.
Source: Daily Express
