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Dorsett grand Labuan strives to become activist organisation BorneoPost Online | Borneo , Malaysia, Sarawak Daily News » Sabah - New 2 Borneo

Dorsett grand Labuan strives to become activist organisation

Posted: 12 Dec 2013 11:03 AM PST

LABUAN,: An established hotel chain, Dorsett Grand Labuan is striving towards becoming an activist organisation committed to the pursuit of positive social and environmental change, and displays corporate social responsibility, value and support.

Its general manager, Alfred Paulsen said corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes which did not receive media attention previously, had taken a back seat and should be bolstered for the good of the local communities.

"CSR in this region is an emerging trend, and it should be one of the pillars of the brand to help the community, as this will be positive," he said at a press conference after a Safety Week Thursday.

"We have programmes for the needy, like school children and kindergarten pupils, we rendered financial assistance not only in Labuan but also outside of the island," he said.

Paulsen said the hotel managed to raise funds amounting to RM60,000 during the Christmas charity fund, adding the proceeds would be channelled to the Paitan Kindergarten in Beluran, Sabah.

He said the hotel management had identified 11 houses for repair works, as part of its CSR charity programmes. — BERNAMA

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Jeremy, Jelani to join PBRS?

Posted: 12 Dec 2013 09:48 AM PST

by Mariah Doksil. Posted on December 13, 2013, Friday

KOTA KINABALU: Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) president Tan Sri Joseph Kurup has declined comment on rumours of Kadamaian assemblyman Jeremy Malazad and Matunggong assemblyman Jelani Hamdan joining his party.

"All I can say is that the majority of voters in Kadamaian and Matunggong are Kadazan Dusun Murut, so they are closer to PBRS," he said after launching the State-level Integration Week at the Federal Building here yesterday.

Asked whether both Jeremy and Jelani had approached him to join PBRS, Kurup declined to comment.

Jeremy and Jelani recently left Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) after winning their seats on the opposition party's ticket in the 13th general election.

It is said that during the State Assembly sitting last month, both Jeremy and Jelani had approached Luyang assemblyman Hiew King Cheu and asked him to join their newly registered party but Hiew declined.

In his speech at the event, Kurup, who is Minister in Prime Minister's Department, said the Rukun Negara is a foundation for nation-building and is a perfect guide to unite the multi-racial community in Malaysia, especially in Sabah.

He noted that after the May 13 incident, the government had worked hard to ensure healthy development for multi-religious and multi-cultural country Malaysia.

"It is important for us to respect each other and understand the Rukun Negara to nurture unity. It also important to understand the 1Malaysia concept, as the government is very serious in promoting a new brand and identity of Malaysia as one race," he said.

Kurup also said that the recent move by the federal government to set up a National Consultation Council that was launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on November 25 showed the serious commitment to promote unity and oneness.

During the event, Kurup handed over appreciation certificates to 25 Rukun Tetangga (Neighbourhood Watch) from all over the state for their contribution as an integration agent.

He reminded all Neighbourhood Watch in Sabah to continue their positive attitude in promoting safety and a united neighborhood.

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Woman killed, four hurt in collision

Posted: 12 Dec 2013 09:47 AM PST

by Elton Gomese. Posted on December 13, 2013, Friday

KOTA BELUD: A woman was killed in a collision between the Toyota Vigo vehicle that she and three others were travelling in and a Perodua Kembara at Mile 30, Kota Belud-Kota Marudu road, near Kampong Ulu Kukut here on Wednesday.

Tannah Waki, 52, from Kampung Indarason, Kudat died at the scene in the 3pm incident.

It was learnt that the Toyota Vigo vehicle was heading towards Kota Kinabalu from Kudat when it crashed with the Perodua Kembara that was on its way to Kudat from Kota Belud.

Tannah, who was seated in front, sustained head and body injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene while the driver and two passengers seated at the back were injured.

The driver of the Perodua Kembara also sustained serious injuries.

District police chief DSP Mohan Nadasan said all the injured victims had been taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital for treatment and their condition was reported to be stable.

Mohan urged eyewitnesses to come forward to assist police in their investigation of the case under Section 41 (1) of the Road Transport Act 1987.

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Bridge project to hit Kiulu tourism, claims tour guide

Posted: 12 Dec 2013 09:47 AM PST

KOTA KINABALU: Kiulu assemblyman Datuk Joniston Bangkuai will call for a meeting to address concern over the ongoing construction of a bridge (level crossing) across Kiulu River at Kampung Poturidong.

"I am fully aware of this issue and will be calling for a meeting with the tour operators and villagers concerned and the district office soon," he said when commenting on a Facebook posting by a concerned tour guide.

In the posting on the social network, Dzul Fadzli expressed concern that the project, if allowed to proceed, may adversely affect the eco-system and tourism industry there.

He wrote: "SHOCKING!!!!!! KIULU village, famous with its tourism spot for whitewater rafting activities, jungle trekking, homestay programme, annual river harvesting, fish spa or fish massage, 4WD challenge experience site, even famous reality TV show such as Amazing Race Asia (AXN) pick this place as one of their race sites, MILD Seven adventure challenge pick this as one of their race site as well… Now they are building this bridge that may expose the tourist to dangers while doing the Whitewater Rafting activities, distribute a huge impact to the environment specially to fishes (marine life) which travel up and down the stream, possibility of soil erosion due to change of flows of water and etc."

The place is also internationally renowned for whitewater rafting activities.

Specialising in whitewater rafting, Dzul was especially concerned that once completed, the bridge may pose a risk to tourists taking part in whitewater rafting there, in future.

The construction site is also situated at the shallow part of the river.

Bangkuai, who is also the Sabah Tourism Board chairman, said he intended to get a clear picture on the project and to listen to the views of all parties concerned, on how best to address the issue.

"I think it is only appropriate that we listen to both sides of the stories and to find a solution to achieve a 'win-win' situation. As the elected representative of the area, I want to make sure that the need of my constituents is met," he said.

Bangkuai said the implementation of the project was based on the need and application of the villagers there, assuring that he would not allow anyone to harm the state's tourism industry.

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Curb turtle egg trading in Sandakan – BMRI

Posted: 12 Dec 2013 09:46 AM PST

by Jenne Lajiun. Posted on December 13, 2013, Friday

KOTA KINABALU: It takes five months for a Green Turtle hatchling to grow up to a length of five inches before it reaches maturity and begins to breed.

In the wild, the sea turtle eggs and hatchlings are faced with many dangers. The sea turtle eggs have been known to be harvested and sold illegally to consumers, while hatchlings are left at the mercy of nature and their predators. Due to this, their survivability ratio is extremely low.

"Depending on the situation, it varies between one to every 5,000 and one to every 10,000," said Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) Borneo Marine Research Institute (BMRI) director Professor Dr Saleem Mustafa.

Further aggravating the conservation problem of the sea turtle is their late maturity.

In warmer waters, the sea turtles reach maturity and begin breeding between 20 and 25 years old, but in cooler waters, the process of maturity is attained much later in life for the sea turtles at 30 years old to 35 years old.

Due to these issues affecting the sea turtles, it is hence crucial that more efforts are necessary to educate the public, namely the fishing community, as well as the declaration of more marine areas as protected areas, stressed Dr Saleem.

It is also crucial to address and investigate the illegal trading of turtle eggs in Sandakan, he said.

"More public awareness campaigns must be held to curb the trading of turtle eggs in Sandakan because despite the rules and regulations that have been put in place, a lot of trade activities on turtle eggs were still taking place in Sandakan.

"Why are all these turtle eggs confiscated time and time again in Sandakan? Why does it have to be Sandakan all the time? It could be that the law enforcement is not very active in Sandakan. It could also be that there is a niche market and people like eating turtle eggs in Sandakan. Or there could be traders trading turtle eggs illegally," he said.

He added that the matter should be investigated further as most of the incidents were occurring and confined to Sandakan district.

The sales of turtle meat, fortunately, were not rampant.

"I think sea turtles should be allowed to mature and breed," he stressed.

Dr Saleem also cited that it was likely that the turtle eggs that were illegally traded may have come from islands around Sandakan that are not within the Turtle Islands Park.

And for this reason, Dr Saleem lauded the declaration of more areas as protected marine areas.

"If more areas were given that status, they would be better managed," he said.

He commended that the proposal to establish the Tun Mustafa Marine Park, which will cover over one million hectares and possibly will become the largest Southeast Asia marine park.

"The one million hectares will really make a difference. There is an abundance of seagrasses at the area (sea turtles consume seagrasses) and sea turtles are also nesting within the zone," he said.

Dr Saleem stressed that contrary to the beliefs of some, gazetting more areas as protected zones would be beneficial to the society in general.

"When we discuss about the marine park, they think we are putting restrictions but these restrictions are not meant to deprive the people of their livelihood but rather geared towards the sustainable management of marine resources," he described.

He mentioned further that the effort will include the introduction of sustainable fishing methods that would allow the marine life to regenerate its population.

The key idea is to allow the marine life, including sea turtles, to mature and breed at least once before they were caught, he said.

As for now, there is no clear estimation on the current population of sea turtles in Sabah.

"We don't know. But certainly there have been more sightings of the (sea) turtles since the conservation measure has been put in place. Also it is difficult (to estimate their population) but the sightings have improved and I think the population will increase as more areas are deemed protected marine areas," he said.

BMRI senior lecturer, Dr Pushpa M. Palaniappan interjected that they have begun tagging sea turtles in Sipadan and in Mabul since 2010.

"We have tagged 545 sea turtles in Sipadan since 2010, while in Mabul, we have tagged 200 sea turtles," she said.

"No one expected that such a small area would have that many sea turtles," she exclaimed.

The project was geared towards checking the growth rate of the sea turtles and to study their food preferences. The tags, costing RM12 each, were provided by the Sabah Parks.

"We have held eight field trips so far, and we have caught one sea turtle repeatedly for five times. It hasn't showed any signs of fear towards our divers as we have adopted the JS method of catching the sea turtles," she said.

Dr Pushpa explained that the JS method was an award winning device that has been developed by two individuals from Borneo Divers Sdn Bhd and Sabah Parks.

"So far it has won three awards … it was developed in 2010," she said.

With the new method, they were able to catch and lift the sea turtles onto the waiting boat above for examination and tagging without overly stressing them.

"Manually, the procedure would have been very stressful for the sea turtles and very dangerous for our divers. But with the adoption of this new method, we were able to catch and examine 50 sea turtles in a day. Prior to that, we were catching between three and four sea turtles a day, and it took a lot of effort," she said describing the procedure.

Most of the sea turtles captured and later released were probably residents within the area.

The project was the collaboration of UMS, Sabah Parks, WWF-Malaysia and Borneo Divers.

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Sabah crime index down 4.5%

Posted: 12 Dec 2013 09:45 AM PST

PENAMPANG: The overall crime index in the state has dropped by 4.5 percent for the first 11 months of this year, said Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib.

"Burglary cases have also declined by 2.2 percent from January until November this year, while cases that have been successfully charged in court increased to 5.5 percent," he said after launching the community policing programme, themed "Fear of Crime" 2013, at Donggongon township here yesterday.

Also present were UPKO Penampang divisional chief Donald Peter Mojuntin, State deputy police commissioner P/DCP Datuk Abdul Malek Hj Harun, Crime Investigation Department (CID) chief SAC Omar Mammah, Police Training Centre (Pulapol) Sabah Pulapol commander Superintendent Mohd Azhar Hamin and Penampang police chief DSP Ratan Kumar Singh.

Hamza said the drop in crime cases in the state was partly due to commitment showed by the police and continuous support and cooperation from the public.

"We are on the right track to achieve the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) that is to reduce crime rate in Sabah," he said.

Meanwhile, Hamza said yesterday's program was a proactive move by the police to be closer to the public to prevent and combat crime.

"With the presence of police officers and personnel on the ground, the public will feel much safer and are confident that law enforcers are always nearby to protect them," he said.

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