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River conservation drive launched - Borneo Post Berita Sabah - News 2 Sabah

River conservation drive launched - Borneo Post

Posted: 15 Mar 2014 09:47 AM PDT

PAPAR: More than 60 people including representatives from villages throughout Sabah gathered at the Hutan Lipur in Kawang here for the launching of Save Sabah Rivers Coalition's 'Sungai ditangan Kita' (River in our Hands) campaign.

According to the campaign's organising chairperson, those who attended the event came from as far away as Tawau, Keningau, Ranau, Pitas, Kudat, Tongod, Kota Belud and Penampang as they wanted to be part of the campaign to save Sabah rivers from destruction caused by converting them for other uses such as dams.

"For centuries, indigenous communities such as those from Ulu Papar have depended on forest ecosystems for their way of life, one that is becoming increasingly rare in today's society.  Now the indigenous community of Ulu Papar themselves are threatened by the proposal for a dam in their area.

"We believe that development does not always have to come at the expense of our communities or natural heritage as Sabah has plenty of other alternatives other than one that would destroy one of Sabah's cleanest rivers.

"As such with other partners, today we launched our Save Sabah Rivers Coalition in conjunction with the International Day of action Against Dams and Rivers, Water and Life," she said adding that Save Sabah Rivers is a coalition of eight NGOs and civil society groups concerned about the state of our rivers.

Coalition members include Stop Kaiduan Dam Taskforce, Jaringan Orang Asal SeMalaysia (JOAS), Partners for Community Organisation (Pacos Trust), School of Acting Justly, Loving Tenderly, Treading Humbly (SALT), Tomphinai Ningkokoton Koburuon Kampung (Tonibung), Land Empowerment Animals People (LEAP), Borneo Youth Revolution (BYR) and Community-Led Environmental Awareness for Our River (CLEAR).

Giun added that the protests of those residing along the Kaiduan river where the proposed dam is to be built were not heard by the relevant quarters which is why Save Sabah Rivers Coalition will become their 'voice'.

"The villagers' voice about the problems faced when there is development along the river is too soft and cannot be heard. So we hope that we, as a Coalition can be a louder voice in creating awareness about the need to protect our rivers for the benefit of those living along it.

"This campaign is very important as it can create awareness among people who are from outside Ulu Papar about the threats facing the river, the environment and the villagers here such as the proposed Kaiduan Dam," she said.

Giun added that through the campaign, they hope to create awareness as to the negative effects the Kaiduan Dam would have on the river quality and how it would have adverse effect on the more than 1,000 people living in Ulu Papar.

The construction of the dam not only involves a very high cost, but would also threaten the river quality and have detrimental effects on the environment as well as the people who have been living there all this time, she lamented.

"It is my belief that only with the community's cooperation can we conserve our rivers," she said.

On the coalition's future plans, Giun said that several programs including river protection campaigns have been planned and will be held throughout the state.

"Seeing that today's program is the first one implemented by the coalition, we hope that more NGOs will also do their part in creating public awareness on the importance of protecting and conserving our rivers.

"I therefore urge the community to start thinking about how important rivers are to the state and country. We are here to help and guide as well as encourage them to start doing something towards the noble cause of protecting our rivers.

"It may be a small step but it will bring positive results in the long run," she stressed.

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It&#39;s never my intention to pull out routes to <b>Sabah</b> – AirAsia boss <b>...</b>

Posted: 28 Feb 2014 09:38 AM PST

KOTA KINABALU: Low cost carrier, AirAsia, is here to stay, its chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, said yesterday.

His statement refuted earlier claim that AirAsia would cease operations in Sabah should the airline be forced to move to Terminal 1 of the Kota Kinabalu International Airport.

"Following my recent press conference held in Kota Kinabalu and a recent report claiming I had threatened to pull out AirAsia routes to Sabah, I would like to clarify that it was never the case, and it is not my style.

"I have also been accused of being arrogant for such statements. I would like to put the record straight — I have always been very committed to developing Sabah as a hub.

"We have a very strong relationship with Sabah tourism, and we are constantly engaging with Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, the Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun and Sabah Tourism Board general manager Datuk Irene Charuruks to further explore growth opportunities for Sabah for the past 13 years; Sabah remains key to me and also a very important hub for AirAsia," he told reporters in Sepang.

He reiterated his point that it is critical for AirAsia to remain in Terminal 2 at Tanjung Aru where the passenger service charge (PSC) is RM32.

"If we are forced to move to Terminal 1 where the PSC is significantly higher at RM65, it will affect our ability to offer low fares and in turn cause diminishing demand from the public, lowering passenger traffic into the state.

"We appeal to the mass market where RM30 makes a huge difference in their decision to fly or not. A large number of our passengers travel as families, so paying the higher passenger service charge would be a burden to them," he said.

Fernandes added that if demand drops due to the increase, it will make the routes unprofitable which will result in the possibility of route suspensions.

"This is the reason I am pushing Malaysia Airports, the Sabah Government, and the Federal Government to either make Terminal 2 an LCC terminal or build a new low cost terminal," he stressed.

He said that Sabah is one of the reasons AirAsia exists and "we will never abandon Sabah." But the harsh reality is, no one will want to fly with rising costs.

"People who know me know that I have zero arrogance and I am very open for discussions."

According to Fernandes, AirAsia has great plans for Sabah and the airline had invested greatly in developing new routes out of the state and adding more flight frequencies for the benefit of tourism in Sabah.

"We also have plans to have AirAsia X to be based in Sabah, for us to better contribute to higher passenger arrivals into the state and help create jobs and economic development.

"We are committed to developing Sabah, especially KKIA as one of our major hubs in Malaysia. We are not planning to leave but instead look forward to more expansion in Sabah," said Fernandes.

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Gov&#39;t committed to secure sponsorship, financial support for <b>Sabah</b> <b>...</b>

Posted: 13 Jan 2014 01:47 AM PST

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah state government will always find ways to secure sponsors and financial support to ensure the welfare of players in the Sabah football team.

Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman who is also the Sabah Football Association President said it was hoped that the efforts by the state government would inspire the players to work hard and be disciplined.

"The results of the past few years has not been encouraging and fans are rooting for quality matches and performances. The people of Sabah and the fans will always support the team.

"Therefore, it is the responsibility of the players to repay their trust," he told reporters after being introduced to the players at the Sabah football team's function to unveil its new jersey for the 2014 M-League season, here today.

Sabah who play in the Premier League will be strengthened by the presence of Mitrovic Srecko, 30 from Serbia, Pocuca Predrag, 28 from Croatia and Marwan Sayedeh, 29, from Syria.

Former Sabah stalwart Milomir Seslija who helped Sabah win the FA Cup in 1995, will return to the team and take charge as the head coach. — Bernama

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DCM: <b>Sabah</b> committed to develop services sector industry <b>...</b>

Posted: 18 Feb 2014 08:36 AM PST

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Deputy Chief Minister, Datuk Raymond Tan Shu Kiah, said the state government is committed to further develop its services sector as a main income generator.

He said the services sectors, especially the knowledge-intensive and business services, were increasingly recognised as supporting the manufacturing sector and acted as levers to boost economic growth and development.

Tan, who is also the state Industrial Development Minister, said the knowledge-intensive service providers today were no longer being perceived only as specialised knowledge carriers but also as connectors, technology transfer agents and problem-solvers.

"The government has been actively involved in the development of the services industry in the last four decades.

"The Sabah Economic Development Corp, which was set up in 1971, aims to assist the government stimulate industrial, commercial and socio-economic development of the state," he said.

Tan said this when officiating a seminar on 'Government Initiatives to Propel the Services Sector', organised by Malaysia Industrial Development Authority (Mida) and Sabab Industrial Development Ministry yesterday.

Tan said the state government's commitment in driving the services sector could also be seen in the implementation of the Sabah Corridor Blueprint where tourism and logistics industries had been identified as the economic drivers in Sabah.

Among the programmes, he said, were to address the basic and laying tourism foundations for future growth as well as putting in place the world-class tourism infrastructure and services, including nurturing vibrant arts and culture scenes.

"The other programmes were to strengthen Sabah's position as a premier eco-adventure destination through conservation, research and sustainable development of new tourism products anchored by signature resorts," he said.

Speaking to reporters later, Tan said the abundance of about 30 million tonnes of bio-mass in Sabah and the state's bio-diversity were other important economic potentials that needed to be developed. — Bernama

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Video clip shows &#39;real situation&#39; in <b>Sabah</b> – Bumburing - Borneo Post

Posted: 24 Feb 2014 09:23 AM PST

by Nancy Lai. Posted on February 25, 2014, Tuesday

KOTA KINABALU: Angkatan Perubahan Sabah (APS) president Datuk Seri Panglima Wilfred Bumburing believed that all the issues showed in Seputeh member of parliament Teresa Kok's Chinese New Year video clip were 'real'.

"Who can deny about the incident (in the East Coast)? And is true that people in Sabah are afraid to let their children out, especially after the shooting spree that damaged more than 50 premises in the state capital and Penampang," the Tamparuli assemblyman said.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Kok and DAP Sabah chief Jimmy Wong here yesterday, Bumburing said Malaysians must treat issues in the video 'Onederful Malaysia' with an open mind.

"After viewing the video clip myself, I found nothing in it that speaks about race and religion," he said, adding that the video clip was a political satire which would be considered a norm in developed countries.

Taking the United States as example, Bumburing pointed out that a television talk show host there can openly criticize the President of the country (during the programme) without repercussions.

Bumburing also criticised the two Federal ministers from Sabah, Datuk Shafie Apdal and Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan for being too quick to jump to conclusion about the issues without having seen the video clip first.

Bumburing also expressed his disappointment and sadness that the Home Minister had shrugged off the offer by an NGO to reward RM1,200 to anybody who slapped Kok and claimed that it was a 'non-issue'.

"If this opinion was made by a lay man, we are not really concerned but this is a minister who said it. It really makes us sad and people are asking what happen to the law in this country," he said.

Meanwhile, Kok said during her visit to Tenom, the people there also came up to her asking, why she was being treated this way over the satire.

Kok added she had invited Shafie to watch the video but the Rural Development and Regional Minister said that he had better things to do.

Wong on the other hand said he had also invited Abdul Rahman to watch the video clip together with him and the public before they have a debate on the issue.

"But it has been more than two weeks and there is still no response from him," he said.

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