News & Updates from KePKAS

18Feb

RM173.5mil federal tourism projects proposed for Sabah

PUTRAJAYA: The Sabah Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment has submitted a list of proposed tourism development projects in the State, estimated to cost RM173.54 million, to be funded by the Federal Government. Its Minister Datuk Christina Liew made the submission to the Federal Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture (Motac), Datuk Seri Mohammadin Ketapi, at a meeting with the latter at his office, here, Thursday. Also present were Deputy Secretary-General (Tourism) Dato’ Haslina Abdul Hamid, Tourism Malaysia Director-General Datuk Musa Yusof and Special Functions Officer to the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Jamil Hamzah. Liew, who is also Sabah Deputy Chief Minister, stressed that the proposed projects are for the continued growth of the tourism industry in Sabah. These involve 10 districts, namely, Tawau, Lahad Datu, Semporna, Sandakan, Kudat, Kota Belud, Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Penyu, Tenom and Beaufort. The projects include upgrading of the infrastructure at the Tawau Hills Park, building of jetties, upgrading of visitor facilities at Simpang Mengayau and at an archaeological site, renovation of the existing building at two heritage museums, provision of tourism facilities at a wildlife sanctuary and renovation of the Lansaran building and multi-purpose buildings in Tenom. “I will make a strong recommendation for the approval of the proposed tourism-related projects. However, the applications for funding of these projects will be scrutinised by the Federal Economic Planning Unit.  We will keep on fighting for funds,” Mohammadin assured Liew, who was accompanied by the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, William Baya, Director of Sabah Parks, Dr Jamili Nais, Sabah Tourism Board General Manager, Suzaini Datuk Sabdin Ghani and the Minister’s Private Secretary, Helen Muhammari. The Federal Minister also said he would duly consider the application for funding of the proposed facelift for the Poring Hot Springs in Ranau. Briefing Mohammadin further, Liew, who is MP for Tawau, made a request for an annual grant of RM1,500,000 for the preservation of Sabah’s ethnic heritage for the benefit of future generations. There are 35 main ethnic groups and 217 sub-ethnic groups in Sabah. She also sought another annual grant of RM500,000 in support of the International Youth Folk Dance Festival involving primary and secondary school students in Malaysia at national and international levels. Thirdly, Liew made a request for a “one-off” grant of RM500,000 for the Riu de Tawau programme to kick-start the Cuti-Cuti Tawau campaign which will be launched early next month. She said the programme will showcase the district’s ethnic groups and their rich heritage via a parade and cultural performances as well as their traditional cuisine through a food expo. “Tawau is a jewel in the crown but has yet to be fully explored and promoted to tourists. “I would like Cuti-Cuti Tawau to be incorporated into the calendar of events for Visit Malaysia Year 2020.” In response, Mohammadin said he would “cari jalan bantu” (find a way to assist), adding “I will help you on that one. I am a Sabahan.” He also assured his State counterpart that he would put in a word to the Minister of Transport in relation to the proposal to upgrade the Tawau and Sandakan Airports to the status of international airports. He concurred that Tawau is the gateway to the East Coast of Sabah, and an alternative gateway to Sabah, after Kota Kinabalu. Meanwhile, Tourism Malaysia Director-General Datuk Musa Yusof disclosed that statistics showed that 44pc of Chinese tourist arrivals to Malaysia came to Sabah in the previous year. Source: Daily Express
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21Jan

Sabah looks to Europe to boost tourism

KOTA KINABALU: European tourists will be Sabah’s focus as it consolidates on strong annual tourist arrivals from China. The move is to further diversify its tourism market that was highly dependent on the thriving China tourist market, said Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Christina Liew.
Liew, who is state Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister, said that it was important to balance out the tourism market by encouraging more western tourists to visit the state.
“We will kick off our campaign to promote Sabah to other countries, starting with Germany in March.
“We are targeting more Europeans as we want to balance the numbers, not only increasing the number of Chinese tourists, but also American, European and Australian tourists, as well as those from Malaysia," she said. Liew was confident that Sabah was in the right position to draw in European tourists as there was connectivity with Royal Brunei Airlines and China Southern Airlines flying direct to Sabah. Dismissing claims that there was a drop in Chinese tourist arrivals in Sabah, she said that more then 500,000 tourists from China had visited Sabah last year, which surpassed the target. “We have yet to compile the arrivals for December 2018,” she said, adding that Chinese tourists were no longer just staying in Kota Kinabalu but were travelling to other parts of the state including northern Kudat, eastern Sandakan and Tawau. “Maybe people see fewer Chinese tourists in Kota Kinabalu and assume that there is a drop. They are coming and heading to other parts of the state,” she said. Liew also said that the state was expecting a large number of tourists coming for the Chinese New Year season next month. “Some of our top hotels are fully booked already,” she said, adding that Sabah receives some 117 direct flights from nine cities in China weekly.
Source: The Star Online
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21Jan

Long Pasia among 40 RAS routes in Sabah, Sarawak — Mavcom

KOTA KINABALU: Long Pasia is among the 40 Rural Air Service (RAS) routes to be operated by MASwings under the new Public Service Obligation (PSO) agreement for 2019 to 2024, said Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) chief operating officer, Azmir Zain. He said Long Pasia already has an aviation infrastructure with the existing of Short Take-Off and Landing Ports (STOLports) in the area. “Further discussions with the state government will be held to see the best approach to reactivating and re-operating the STOLport. “We just commenced talks with the Federal government and are also looking to starting a discussion with the (Sabah) state government about reactivating Long Pasia. Malaysia Airports, another stakeholder, also needs to be engaged. “Long Pasia has an advantage as it is an existing facility and is just a matter of reactivating and ensuring it meets the various technical standards,” he told a media briefing here yesterday. Azmir said based on Mavcom’s study, Long Pasia is among rural areas in Sabah that require RAS services to facilitate the folk in the area having an access to other places. He added that besides Long Pasia, rural folk at Bukit Mabong, Kapit, Belaga and Long Silat in Sarawak will also benefit from the RAS services once the infrastructure is developed. Azmir said the RAS programme is important for Sabah and Sarawak’s economic growth, given that it provides a key service to communities, to not only obtain basic necessities. “It also empowers small businesses to grow, while allowing children from these communities to access better education,” he added. According to Azmir, the RAS programme has evolved under the new PSO agreement by being reduced to 40 routes compared with 49 previously, thereby, ensuring the true concept of the service connecting rural, to rural or rural to urban areas. — Bernama Source: Borneo Post
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21Jan

Put in more efforts like FCAS, says Minister

KOTA KINABALU: NGOs should emulate the Federation of Chinese Association (FCAS) for putting in more efforts to organise cultural events such as the Chinese New Year (CNY) Carnival the benefit of the people. State Health and People’s Wellbeing Minister Datuk Stephen Wong said he understands the difficulty in organising such a big event and taking up the responsibility to promote Chinese culture. Hence, he saluted FCAS under the leadership of Tan Sri TC Goh for taking up the responsibility to organise the two-day CNY Carnival 2019 from Feb 1-2. “NGOs should work hand in hand to bring more cultural activities such as the CNY Carnival and other healthy activities which will always be supported by the State Government,” Wong said. He said this during a courtesy by Goh and his delegation in conjunction with the Carnival at Lintasan Deasoka, here. Wong was briefed on the progress and preparation of the event. Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal will officiate the CNY Carnival at 7pm on Feb 1 and the closing ceremony by Deputy Chief Minister cum Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew on Feb 2. Cultural shows, singing and dancing performances from Chinese schools around Kota Kinabalu will be on stage during the two-night event. The highlight of the night will be firework display to mark the arrival of the Lunar New Year. Goh is confident that this year’s Carnival will be merrier with the strong support of the people as well as State leaders. Source: Daily Express Online
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07Jan

Environ Dept was into 145 schemes

Kota Kinabalu: The State Environment Protection Department (EPD) with its partners conducted 145 programmes with an outreach of 14,962 participants throughout Sabah in two years. Assistant Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Assaffal Alian said the programmes were part of the initiatives under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Ministry and the Conference of Earth Environment from Akita, Japan (CEEA), in 2017. "This is a major achievement and I hope that more programmes can be conducted so that the people will be more aware that even their smallest actions are important to reduce global warming," he said in a statement, Wednesday. "The MoU which is about to end by March, this year, is a great platform for Sabah to educate the people on the importance of taking the necessary measures to curb the rise of global heat. "We need to become a sustainable society by adhering to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the world leaders in 2015. "I hope CEEA will be able to purse the next phase of the MoU to expand the awareness activities to capture a wider spectrum of the community." Towards this end, Assaffal reiterated that the State Government will give due mandate to EPD to further strengthen its roles of ensuring environmental sustainability, especially, on climate change in Sabah. The MoU aims to ensure that awareness programmes on climate change are promoted among the people. EPD is the implementing department and will eventually be acknowledged as the Centre for Climate Change Action for Sabah, while the programmes are coordinated and monitored by the Japan Centre for Climate Change Actions (JCCCA). Meanwhile, Assaffal lead a working visit to Akita and Tokyo, Japan, recently as part of the indicators in the MoU. He was accompanied by EPD Director Mohd Yusrie Abdullah and other senior officials. During the trip, Assafal said the delegates observed the processing of solid waste at the Comprehensive Environmental Centre operated by Akita City Hall. "A mega solar power plant is also housed in this centre."All solid wastes are separated for recycling and for combustion inside the gasification and melting furnace at a very high temperature between 1,700 and 1,800 degree Celsius. "For environmental countermeasures in the gasification and melting furnace, gases such as nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides, dioxins and other hazardous components are neutralised by the addition of limestone, and the furnace's design also confined these gases from being generated," he said. Assaffal said, the system resolved many environmental issues related to solid waste – a common problem faced by many nations including Sabah. "I am amazed that apart from effective recycling and recovery of metal, the system generates energy for its own power generation. "We also observed the process of several renewable energy in Akita such as biomass plant from oil palm kernels and chip woods, biogas power generation plant for food waste processing and wind mill plant. "Renewable energy from natural resources can be replenished during an average human lifetime and these sources should be promoted to ensure the earth's temperature will not increase at an alarming rate." During the visit, Assaffal also presented a speech on the performance of the climate change awareness programmes in Sabah at the International Eco­Products, Green Productivity and Environmental Technologies Exhibition (EcoPRo) 2018 in Tokyo. Source : Daily Express
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