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| The Sabah state government is at odds with the federal government, which want the places concerned federalised. |
KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah government has found itself in a fix over its bid to gain World Heritage Site status for several extraordinary rainforest areas in the state harbouring unique flora and fauna.
The federal government has thrown a spanner in the works by claiming full jurisdiction over the sites but the state government has dug in its heels and refused to hand over the keys to its riches mindful that land is a “sensitive” state matter.
The Federal Ministry of Culture, Arts and Information which must endorse World Heritage Site applications has said that it will not do so if the places concerned are not “federalised”.
This, they said, was against the spirit of the Malaysia Agreement which guaranteed wide-ranging autonomy for the state in all land matters among others.
The Barisan Nasional government of Chief Minister Musa Aman is aware that surrendering the administration and management of the iconic sites would mean indirect federalisation of state land, already a sore point among voters in the state.
The outcome of the standoff is that full, long-term governmental protection for Maliau Basin, Imbak Canyon and the world famous Danum Valley remains up in the air.
The local press quoted state Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Masidi Manjun as being angered by the federal ministry’s demands.
The state BN government is acutely aware that it is open to attack by the opposition that they are hostage to the federal government on all important matters and this case furthers that perception among Sabahans deeply concerned by the gradual federalisation of the state.
Masidi’s comments at this week’s two-day International Conference Heart of Borneo (HoB) +5: Shaping and Nurturing Sabah’s Future Together appeared to show that the state government was confounded that the federal authorities had thrown up a barricade of red tape to thwart its bid to raise the tourism profile of the state.
He indicated that the federal government had been dragging its feet on the HoB initiative though it was formalised five years ago.
“We want to move forward … it does not matter whether you want to ride a bicycle, bus or car but what is important is we reach the same destination,” he told the around 600 conference participants representing local and international agencies.
The other parties involved in the initiative are Kalimantan through the Indonesian government, Brunei and Sarawak.
"I am very grateful to Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman for being concerned for the need of the villagers to occupy 590 hectares in the three areas.
ReplyDelete"De-gazetting the three areas in the forest reserve is really good news and timely to the 3,500 villagers because they strongly believe they have native customary rights on the land as they have been living there for many generations.
"Also, they have been toiling the land for so long by planting rubber, coconut trees and oil palm and have been enjoying the harvests :Sarapin Magana
The 590 hectares have been de-gazetted for the purpose of agriculture and settlements. These areas are found not suitable to be retained as Forest Reserves as the areas are titled land, occupied by settlers and have been degraded.
ReplyDelete"Actually the area was gazetted as Forest Reserve Class 1 in 2007. However, the villagers only realised that they are living inside the forest reserve belonging to the State Government, last year," said Sarapin.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, the opposition played the issue up to fish for votes by claiming that the Government wanted to grab the land from the villagers.
ReplyDelete"On behalf of the villagers, thank the government for its concern for the needs of the locals in line with the 1Malaysia concept: People's First, Performance Now," Sarapin said.
ReplyDeletejagalah warisan kita.
ReplyDeleteMusa has done a wonderful job as he has been pursuing for good forest and environmental governance in the interest of future generations to come. Recently, The Sabah Forestry Department had decided to re-gazette 183,000 hectares of Class 2 Commercial Forests into Class 1 Protection Forests to expand the expanse of totally protected forests in the state.
ReplyDeleteThis “bold” upward reclassification exercise involves principally lowland forest ecosystem in Ulu Segama and Gunung Rara Forest Reserves, in pursuance of Musa’s decision. This exercise shall mean that Danum Valley on its eastern fringes will be buffered by totally protected forests and in particular, the biologically rich Ulu Segama Forest Reserve (127,890 hectares) can no longer be logged now or in the future because of legislative protection.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, Northern Gunung Rara (55,000 hectares), which forms a vital wildlife buffer from Maliau Basin and Imbak Canyon to Danum Valley, will also be accorded full protection. Both areas, although logged over, are important wildlife habitats and are homes to iconic species such as orang-utan, pygmy elephants and the Bornean clouded leopard.
ReplyDeleteClass 1 Protection Forests are given strict protection primarily for safeguarding water sheds, maintenance of stability of essential climatic and environmental factors, in addition to biodiversity conservation. Under the Forest Enactment 1968 (Sabah), the law forbids any form of conversion such as conversion into oil palm plantations or timber exploitation in a Class 1 Forest.
ReplyDeleteAfter the gazettement of the Protection Forest Reserves in 1984, a total of 44 were gazetted as class 1 Forests, including the controversial Kukusan Hill Forest Reserve, Tawau, which was declassified to Class 2 in 2003. The last Class 1 gazettement was Maliau Basin Forest Reserve in 1997.
ReplyDeleteThe latest decision by Musa will increase the area under total protection to about 1,300,000 hectares or some 17.5 per cent of Sabah’s total land area, exceeding the IUCN standard of 10 percent. Musa’s model of good governance is being applauded within the country and beyond. The way he has won the hearts of people of Sabah and his popularity at the national level shows that ‘Good governance is also good politics’.
ReplyDeleteRed tape is hampering efforts to get World Heritage Site status for Maliau Basin, Imbak Canyon and Danum Valley
ReplyDeleteEqually important, they are of critical value to the people and countries of Borneo as prized natural heritage and for the goods and services that they provide.
ReplyDeletelong-term policy framework of both Yayasan Sabah Group and FRIM to tap the commercial potentials of our rich biodiversity resources and increase our knowledge and understanding of our forest heritage.
ReplyDeleteEfforts and preparations to get World Heritage Site status for Maliau Basin, Imbak Canyon and Danum Valley is taking too long and Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun wants things done as soon as possible.
ReplyDelete
DeleteHe said that since Sabah’s first World Heritage Site inscription for Kinabalu Park in 2000, the rules and regulations as well as the evaluation process have become more and more stringent, making it much harder for a place to be inscribed.
Delete“We have been talking about this matter for years and I think it is truly time for us to get the real job done.
“However, I am not going to lie to myself or to anyone by saying that this is an easy job because it will be a very difficult job – but not impossible,” he said.
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DeleteMasidi said this while speaking to reporters after launching a one-day World Heritage Site nomination workshop held at a leading resort.
He said that with the support from the National Heritage Department, especially from Heritage Commissioner Prof. Emeritus Dato’ Siti Zuraina Bt Abdul Majid, the process would be smoother.
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DeleteHowever, Malaysia can only submit nominations for World Heritage Sites, including Maliau Basin, Imbak Canyon and Danum Valley, after the end of its tenure as World Heritage Committee in 2015.
DeleteSiti Zuraina said that because Malaysia was selected to become one of the 21 countries in the Committee last year, it is not allowed to submit any nominations until the end of its tenure.
“However, we should take this time to prepare for the nomination and it takes a lot of hard work and preparation to get all the important information we need,” she said.
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