Tag - villa

By ROZZALIN HASHIM SANDAKAN: Tourist arrivals in Sabah are expected to breach the 10 million mark in the next five years with concerted efforts to bring the east coast in the state into the picture. At an agreement signing ceremony at a leading hotel here Monday evening witnessed by Chief Minister Tan Sri Musa Haji Aman, 200 units of floating villa near the world renowned Sipadan Island will be built jointly by a state-owned company and one from China. Sabah recorded about 3.7 million tourist arrivals last year. A majority of them are drawn by attractions in the west coast of Sabah including the Mount Kinabalu area. But increasing number have been recorded in East Coast attractions such as Sipadan, Mabul and other dive resorts, as well as eco-tourism products in places like Sandakan and Lahad Datu. One of the Memorandum of Understanding signed yesterday was between Sabah Green Development Sdn Bhd (SGD), a recently-created government-linked company tasked with developing the economy, particularly tourism, in Sandakan, Lahad Datu and Tawau. The company had been approved by the State Cabinet to work with the Sandakan Municipal Council in the development efforts. Tourists from China have been the main contributor to Sabah’s rapid tourism growth and SGD has formulated the Sabah East Coast Tourism Belt in an attempt to strategise to lure more China tourist to the east coast. The company signed an MOU with Living Great Fortune Sdn Bhd whose shareholders are from China. Construction of the floating villas is expected to begin this year. The other MoU witnessed by Musa was between SGD and Institut Sistem Mikroelectrik Malaysia, or MIMOS. SGD was represented by its chief executive officer John Nip, whilst Ong Tat Kian represented the China interest. John Nip also signed the MOU with MIMOS, which was represented by Dr Ahmad Nizar Harun. It concerns the development of a smart tourism information system aimed at addressing tourists’ security concerns. MIMOS is a research and development agency in the information communication technology sector. It comes under the purview of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. While Sandakan is the transit point to the Selingan Turtle Island and the eco-adventure tourism products in the Kinabatangan area, Lahad Datu is known for the Danum Valley, Tabin Wildlife Reserve and the scenic Silam area linked to Darvel Bay. There are now direct flights into Sandakan and Tawau, which tourists use as transit point to Semporna and on to Sipadan, Mabul and several other marine resorts. Also present at the signing ceremony were Assistant Minister of Local Government and Housing Datuk Zakaria Hj Mohd Edris and Sandakan Municipal Council president Datuk James Wong. Source: New Sabah Times