Guest guest Posted September 19, 2005 Report Share Posted September 19, 2005 Sipadan: Protection a priority - The Straits Times ROY GOH Sept 18 2005 -- It’s all about safety and the protection of marine life and wildlife. ROY GOH looks into what’s happening in Sipadan after the Sabah Government restricted visits to the island. DESPITE the lure of Pulau Sipadan to divers, the Sabah Government prefers if no one visits it for now. The island, off Semporna, is such a touchy subject that Assistant Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Karim Bujang said it was better if no one visited it until things settled down. " But if we do that, then people would say the Government is up to something no good, " said Karim, who is also the state Environment Council chairman. He makes regular visits to the island, the latest one last month, and said: " Pulau Sipadan is in good hands. " He also said the Government would stick to its plan to ensure the island was safe and its marine and wildlife was preserved. At a national level, the development of the island is under the purview of the Joint Pulau Sipadan and Ligitan Management and Monitoring Committee, while in Sabah it comes under the Pulau Sipadan Management Committee. Beginning this year, no one has been allowed to stay overnight on the island except for security forces, police personnel and armed forces, as well as Sabah park rangers. It was a government decision that drew much support from environmental groups, although the response from those who earned from the island varied. Day-trippers, a maximum of 100 per day, are still allowed onto the island, provided they have permission from the National Security Division because the island and its surroundings are gazetted as security areas. There is no compromise on security as it was previously a disputed island but was declared a part of Malaysia by the International Court of Justice in 2002. The abduction of 21 people, including 12 tourists, from one of the dive resorts on the island in 2000 had also resulted in a security beef-up. Following the order for dive operators to remove their resorts on the island, some complied, but a few appealed for more time until they could find alternate island bases for their operations. However, when the deadline arrived in March this year, there were a few who were not able to remove the structures on time. Some even left their structures standing to allow security forces and park rangers to use them temporarily. " There was a time after the deadline when we did not allow visitors on the island as we felt it was hazardous. " Debris such as nails and pieces of zinc were strewn all over the place because of demolition work. " But we lifted that rule after the operators appealed to us to allow divers a place to rest between dives. " It has since stayed that way where we allow them to rest or eat within a small beachfront area while the rest of the island is out of bounds, " Karim said. " We are now in a transition period. Our long-term plan is to build one main jetty and provide basic facilities for day-trippers, " he said, noting that all this would likely be in place by next year. He also said the move for dive operators to remove their resorts on the island inadvertently allowed the development of other resorts in the district. " From what I know, businesses have picked up among home-stay operators. " We also have a variety of resorts such as an old oil rig and a ship which have been turned into ‘floating hotels’. " People are also staying longer in the district unlike before when it was straight to the island on arrival and back to the airport in Tawau after they ended their stay. " Now the guests have to stay on and wait for their chance to dive at Pulau Sipadan which remains the main attraction as before, " he said. -- ‘Magical’ island’s rich marine life draws divers AVID scuba diver Arizan Arifin first learnt of Pulau Sipadan’s marine life when he watched a video made by a friend. " It was like an aquarium and I knew I had to see it for myself, " said the scuba diver who was with a group of first-timers when in Semporna recently. Arizan described his recent visit to Pulau Sipadan, the island, off Semporna, as " magical " . " I have dived in many other places such as Pulau Tioman, Perhentian, Pangkor and Redang, but none of those places can be compared to Pulau Sipadan, " said Arizan, who is from Putrajaya. Such words do not surprise dive instructor Emlyn Yapp, who worked on the island for 12 years until March this year when all dive operators were told to leave the island. Despite leaving the company around the same time, the 29-year-old recently decided to return to Semporna and try his luck on dive-related work. Yapp, who has done over 5,000 dives in the area, said Pulau Sipadan would still be the focus of his work as he did not want to waste his experience. " I have seen two killer whales here and a crocodile, and still there is always something that will fascinate any diver. " Yapp shrugged off claims that the island’s surroundings are under threat as there are too many divers. " People say the beaches are now gone, the place is dirty and the number of fishes is getting fewer by the day. I stayed on the island for 12 years and I think such claims are baseless. " Another diver, Canadian James Wright, has returned to Pulau Sipadan at least 12 times in the last eight years. " The turtles will come right at you and you can swim alongside huge schools of barracudas, batfish, trevallies without even bothering them unlike in many other dive sites around the world, " he said. But the issue of operators being told to leave the island was one topic many preferred to talk about in anonymity. A divemaster who used to work for one of the operators said it was a big blow for them but things had returned to normal. " It was too sudden and the demolition work was not easy as we had to rush before the deadline. " Not all the operators complied as they did not have sufficient time and that is why there is still a lot of building material left on the island, " he said. Taxi driver Muhammad Sanarul, however, said the move had removed the monopoly that the few companies with resorts on the island enjoyed and allowed others to earn revenue from its attraction. There are more firms bringing divers to the island, apart from encouraging visitors to stay in other resorts in the vicinity such as Pulau Mabul and Pulau Kapalai. _______________ Get an advanced look at the new version of MSN Messenger. http://messenger.msn.com.my/Beta/Default.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 Whether be it security or environmental reasons, I agree with the decision to restrict visits to Sipadan. I was there a few months before the 2000 kidnaping and the place was being overrun with people. We were allowed to dive at any time, day or night. I remember one of the divemasters commenting that Sipadan's marine life would be gone in a couple of years if nothing was being done to control the flow of tourists. --- yitze ling <yitzeling wrote: > Sipadan: Protection a priority - The Straits Times > ROY GOH > > Sept 18 2005 > -- > > It’s all about safety and the protection of marine > life and wildlife. ROY > GOH looks into what’s happening in Sipadan after the > Sabah Government > restricted visits to the island. > DESPITE the lure of Pulau Sipadan to divers, the > Sabah Government prefers if > no one visits it for now. > > The island, off Semporna, is such a touchy subject > that Assistant Tourism, > Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Karim Bujang > said it was better if no > one visited it until things settled down. > > " But if we do that, then people would say the > Government is up to something > no good, " said Karim, who is also the state > Environment Council chairman. > > He makes regular visits to the island, the latest > one last month, and said: > " Pulau Sipadan is in good hands. " > > He also said the Government would stick to its plan > to ensure the island was > safe and its marine and wildlife was preserved. > > At a national level, the development of the island > is under the purview of > the Joint Pulau Sipadan and Ligitan Management and > Monitoring Committee, > while in Sabah it comes under the Pulau Sipadan > Management Committee. > > Beginning this year, no one has been allowed to stay > overnight on the island > except for security forces, police personnel and > armed forces, as well as > Sabah park rangers. > > It was a government decision that drew much support > from environmental > groups, although the response from those who earned > from the island varied. > > Day-trippers, a maximum of 100 per day, are still > allowed onto the island, > provided they have permission from the National > Security Division because > the island and its surroundings are gazetted as > security areas. > > There is no compromise on security as it was > previously a disputed island > but was declared a part of Malaysia by the > International Court of Justice in > 2002. > > The abduction of 21 people, including 12 tourists, > from one of the dive > resorts on the island in 2000 had also resulted in a > security beef-up. > > Following the order for dive operators to remove > their resorts on the > island, some complied, but a few appealed for more > time until they could > find alternate island bases for their operations. > > However, when the deadline arrived in March this > year, there were a few who > were not able to remove the structures on time. > > Some even left their structures standing to allow > security forces and park > rangers to use them temporarily. > > " There was a time after the deadline when we did not > allow visitors on the > island as we felt it was hazardous. > > " Debris such as nails and pieces of zinc were strewn > all over the place > because of demolition work. > > " But we lifted that rule after the operators > appealed to us to allow divers > a place to rest between dives. > > " It has since stayed that way where we allow them to > rest or eat within a > small beachfront area while the rest of the island > is out of bounds, " Karim > said. > > " We are now in a transition period. Our long-term > plan is to build one main > jetty and provide basic facilities for > day-trippers, " he said, noting that > all this would likely be in place by next year. > > He also said the move for dive operators to remove > their resorts on the > island inadvertently allowed the development of > other resorts in the > district. > > " From what I know, businesses have picked up among > home-stay operators. > > " We also have a variety of resorts such as an old > oil rig and a ship which > have been turned into ‘floating hotels’. > > " People are also staying longer in the district > unlike before when it was > straight to the island on arrival and back to the > airport in Tawau after > they ended their stay. > > " Now the guests have to stay on and wait for their > chance to dive at Pulau > Sipadan which remains the main attraction as > before, " he said. > > > > > -- > > > ‘Magical’ island’s rich marine life draws divers > > AVID scuba diver Arizan Arifin first learnt of Pulau > Sipadan’s marine life > when he watched a video made by a friend. > > " It was like an aquarium and I knew I had to see it > for myself, " said the > scuba diver who was with a group of first-timers > when in Semporna recently. > > Arizan described his recent visit to Pulau Sipadan, > the island, off > Semporna, as " magical " . > > " I have dived in many other places such as Pulau > Tioman, Perhentian, Pangkor > and Redang, but none of those places can be compared > to Pulau Sipadan, " said > Arizan, who is from Putrajaya. > > Such words do not surprise dive instructor Emlyn > Yapp, who worked on the > island for 12 years until March this year when all > dive operators were told > to leave the island. > > Despite leaving the company around the same time, > the 29-year-old recently > decided to return to Semporna and try his luck on > dive-related work. > > Yapp, who has done over 5,000 dives in the area, > said Pulau Sipadan would > still be the focus of his work as he did not want to > waste his experience. > > " I have seen two killer whales here and a crocodile, > and still there is > always something that will fascinate any diver. " > > Yapp shrugged off claims that the island’s > surroundings are under threat as > there are too many divers. > > " People say the beaches are now gone, the place is > dirty and the number of > fishes is getting fewer by the day. I stayed on the > island for 12 years and > I think such claims are baseless. " > > Another diver, Canadian James Wright, has returned > to Pulau Sipadan at least > 12 times in the last eight years. > > " The turtles will come right at you and you can swim > alongside huge schools > of barracudas, batfish, trevallies without even > bothering them unlike in > many other dive sites around the world, " he said. > > But the issue of operators being told to leave the > island was one topic many > === message truncated === Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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