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21 pct hike in tourist arrivals to Sabah despite security issue BorneoPost Online | Borneo , Malaysia, Sarawak Daily News » Sabah - New 2 Borneo

21 pct hike in tourist arrivals to Sabah despite security issue

Posted: 01 Jan 2014 10:32 AM PST

KOTA KINABALU: The number of tourist arrivals in Sabah continues to rise despite the less than positive news on security in the state last year.

State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said 2.5 million tourists visited Sabah, an increase of 21 per cent, from January to October, compared to the same period in 2012.

"Of the total, 1.8 million were domestic tourists, which went up by 17 per cent.

"Foreign tourists especially from Hong Kong and China went up 84.7 per cent to 307,325 people, mostly from 237 charter flights, the highest record in Malaysia," he said.

He said this in his speech during the eve of the New Year and Visit Malaysia Year 2014 (TMM 2014) celebration at Lintasan Deasoka, launched by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman here, Tuesday night.

Masidi was grateful that the effort of the ministry and tourism entreprenuers to rebuild confidence in Sabah as a safe destination had paid off.

Terrorists from Sulu, Philippines landed in Sabah in early February last year. On Nov 15, a Taiwanese, aged 57, was shot dead and his wife, 58, was kidnapped on Pulau Pom Pom, Semporna. She was rescued on Dec 20.

In conjunction with TMM 2014, Masidi said numerous tourist attractions had been prepared including the adoption of Kota Kinabalu as home port by sea cruise provider, Star Cruise Aquarius.

Furthermore, he said Kota Kinabalu was listed as a 'Top 10 Rising Asian Destinations' from TripAdvisor. — Bernama

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More than 400 individuals checked in ‘Ops Bersepadu’ in Tawau

Posted: 01 Jan 2014 10:31 AM PST

TAWAU: Police carried out checks on 420 individuals in an integrated operation codenamed 'Ops Noda' on the 2014 new year eve at several entertainment outlets in the town.

Tawau district police chief ACP Awang Besar Dullah said the individuals checked comprised 305 men and 115 women aged between 20 and 50.

"Of those checked, three men tested positive for drugs, and 20 women aged between 20 and 30 who did not have any personal identification were handed over to the Immigration Department for further action," he said in a statement, here yesterday.

He said the operation which lasted about two hours began at 2am, involving personnel from the police, Immigration Department, Royal Malaysian Customs and the Tawau Municipal Council (MPT).

He said an enforcement officer from the MPT also issued a warning notice to two entertainment centres for operating overtime. — Bernama

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UMS sets up reference and research centre on security aspects

Posted: 01 Jan 2014 10:31 AM PST

KOTA KINABALU: Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) will set up a research centre which will function as a reference centre concerning Sabah affairs including the security aspect, by the end of the month at the latest.

UMS vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Mohd Harun Abdullah said the centre would become a study and research laboratory to assist the government in tackling security issues particularly in Sabah waters.

"The setting up of the centre is now at the final stage as it is still waiting for the support from the University Management Board (L

UMS sets up reference and research centre on security aspects KOTA KINABALU: Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) will set up a research centre which will function as a reference centre concerning Sabah affairs including the security aspect, by the end of the month at the latest.

UMS vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Mohd Harun Abdullah said the centre would become a study and research laboratory to assist the government in tackling security issues particularly in Sabah waters.

"The setting up of the centre is now at the final stage as it is still waiting for the support from the University Management Board (LPU) which will meet at the end of the month.

"It is seen as the platform for all kinds of strategic and security research located in one centre," he told reporters after launching the 20th anniversary celebration for the establishment of the UMS at the Dataran Dewan Canselor UMS, here yesterday.

Mohd Harun said the university would distribute appropriate allocation according to its capacity to carry out a particular research and so far, it had not received any government grant or allocation for the purpose of setting up the centre.

In another development, he said he was still studying in detail the form of cooperation with the Institute of Public Security of Malaysia (IPSOM) to undertake studies on security issues in the waters of Sabah including the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCom).

He said any research especially in the waters of Sabah needed an understanding on the various aspects such as the socio-culture and economy of the local community.

Meanwhile, he also announced the setting up of a Clock Tower which would become a landmark at UMS at the roundabout near the main entry to the university which was expected to be ready in June.

He said UMS would be the first university in the country to have a clock tower as a landmark. — Bernama

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Mororist hurt in collision

Posted: 01 Jan 2014 09:59 AM PST

Posted on January 2, 2014, Thursday

LAHAD DATU: A local driver in his 20s suffered minor injuries after his Proton Waja car was involved in accident with a Toyota Hilux at Jalan Silam, yesterday.

It was learnt that the Toyota Hilux was heading towards town from Silam, when the driver in his 30s lost control of his wheel and entered the opposite lane before hitting the Proton Waja car.

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Couple killed as car hits lorry

Posted: 01 Jan 2014 09:58 AM PST

by Johan Aziz. Posted on January 2, 2014, Thursday

TENOM: A married couple from Kampung Pangi here was killed when their Perodua Kancil vehicle rammed into the back of a lorry near Kampung Simpangan near here on Tuesday night.

District Fire and Rescue Department officer-in-charge, Runzee @ Samri Abdul Tani, said yesterday that the married couple have been identified as Ramli Mili Ansibuk, 35, and his wife, Mastura Lamandus, 25.

He said the Kancil vehicle driven by Ramli had rammed into the back of a 10-ton lorry near Kampung Simpangan about five kilometer from Tenom town.

"The Fire Department received a call on the accident from the police at 7.20 pm on Tuesday and immediately rushed a fire engine to the scene with seven personnel," he said.

Runzee said the couple was trapped inside their vehicle but was successfully extricated at 7.53 pm by the fire department personnel while the lorry driver reportedly fled from the scene.

He said the bodies of the married couple have sent to the district hospital for a post-mortem.

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Liew’s faction to ‘rebuild’ LDP

Posted: 01 Jan 2014 09:57 AM PST

KOTA KINABALU: LDP will go forward into a new horizon from the very first day of 2014 by starting a new exercise to reconstruct the various party divisions in the state by registering the members again, and at the same time recruit new members, said Datuk VK Liew when officiating at the service center of Karamunting assemblyman Charlie O Pang, and LDP Sandakan Regional Office at Sabah Building in Sandakan.

"The exercise is necessary in view of the facts that many members had passed away since its inception in 1989, and some have migrated or left the party, while there are some who had returned after leaving the party. There are also some whose membership cannot be verified and we therefore need to clean out the membership roll," said Liew.

"The restructuring exercise commences immediately and will be undertaken by the organizing secretary Micheal Lee Hin Huat and his sub-committee. It is hoped that it will be completed in about three months from now.

"It is also necessitated by the fact that certain membership files and information have been 'hijacked' and "manipulated" by certain irresponsible people who had illegally occupied the party's headquarter recently," Liew claimed.

"This has disabled the LDP election committee from conducting the party election. Notwithstanding this problem, the ROS has been notified of the difficulties faced by the election committee and the party election has now been rescheduled to sometime in April," he said.

Liew said the organising secretary will distribute membership forms to all the party divisions and all existing members are urged to fill in the forms and return to the organising secretary who will issue receipts to the members.

All new members who are interested to join the party are welcome and can obtain the membership forms from the LDP office, the organising secretary and the secretary general, he said.

"It is time that we move forward and resolve to ensure we continue to be united under one flagship despite the many challenges we faced in 2013.

"No doubt, many of the members are anxious to know about the current status of the party. It is important that we understand the position of the law concerning a leadership tussle in a political party. And the law has been clearly stated by the federal court recently where it was held that the role of the ROS in a dispute in a political party is one of "non-interference".

"This means the ROS is excluded from inquiring into the various legal issues concerning a political party leadership disputes. ROS is not empowered to look into the questions of law as they are not a judicial body and has no business to determine on the legitimacy of the various issues facing a political party.

"Therefore, it is highly unlikely that ROS will want to declare which fraction in a dispute is legitimate or otherwise. If ROS is to issue any such directive in writing, they can expect to face a multiple suit in the court of law from me," said Liew.

"This is because ROS has no legal jurisdiction to deal with the legitimacy of a claim in a political dispute. Their role under the law is merely to determine if there is a dispute as to the identity of the office bearers of a political party and once they are satisfied with such existence, they will have to call both parties to resolve the problem within a specific time, failing which ROS is empowered to de-register the party," he said.

"Therefore, once we understand the law, then we know that certain people are lying or do not understand the law when they say that ROS will issue a letter to determine who is legitimate in the current leadership dispute in LDP. Their actions in continuing spreading lies reflect their ignorance of the laws."

Present at the function included Merotai assemblyman and Assistant Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Datuk Pang Yuk Ming, Karamunting assemblyman Charles O Pang Su Pin, members of the supreme council, divisional heads and about a hundred members from the six divisions in Sandakan.

In his speech, Datuk Pang Yuk Ming also urged the members to remain steadfast and hold on to their principles.

"Do not be swayed by the sweet talking of certain people who are only interested to serve their own interest. I am committed to continue my struggle with Datuk VK Liew, who, to me is the legitimate president of LDP.

"I also have the opportunity to read the case concerning SNAP in Sarawak. This was a federal court case with five federal court judges presiding and they had ruled that ROS' role in a political dispute was limited to that as an intermediary and not to poke its nose into the various legal arguments of the disputing parties. Their role is limited and they will not interfere with the decision making of the political parties or of the person authorized under it," said Pang.

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