Posts
The report on the slope stability in Kundasang by the Department of
Mineral and Geoscience will be tabled at the state cabinet meeting
today, Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun
said.
Masidi stressed that the report was requested by his
ministry following a landslide that caused extensive damage to a resort
in Kundasang two years ago.
“Just to clarify any confusion on the
study/report prepared by the Mineral and Geoscience Department that has
been submitted to our ministry and the Local Government and Housing
Ministry.
“It was a report requested by my ministry in the
aftermath of the collapse of Zen Garden Resort,” Masidi said during the
Tourism, Culture and Environment Mnistry’s breaking of fast event at a
hotel here on Monday night.
According to Masidi, among the terms
of reference of the study was to determine the stability of the soil
within and around the various hotels and resorts, many of which were
operating without an Occupational Certificate (OC).
The report,
Masidi said, was intended to assist resorts and hotels to take
mitigating measures to ensure maximum safety in view of the perennial
movement of the ground/land within Kundasang/Mount Kinabalu (a natural
occurrence).
The implementation of the various recommendations is
coordinated by a special task force formed by the Tourism, Culture and
Environment Ministry together with the Local Government and Housing
ministry. It is chaired by the Tourism, Culture and Environment
Ministry’s permanent secretary, Masidi said.
“The tabling of the
report to the Cabinet on Wednesday is merely to brief the Cabinet on the
progress of the task force as well as the report itself. In fact, some
hotels and resorts have already taken proactive measures of implementing
these recommendations which is a condition for their trading/operating
licence renewal by the Ranau District Council,” he added.
Masidi
said this when asked to respond to Minister in the Prime Minister’s
Department, Tan Sri Joseph Kurup’s statement pertaining to the study,
which the latter said had been published and forwarded to the Sabah
Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry, Ranau District Council and
District Office.
Masidi pointed out that there are factors which
are beyond human control and we are aware of the fact that Kundasang and
the surrounding areas have always experienced landslides, irrespective
of whether it is rainy season or not.
“This is a natural
occurrence due to the perennial earth movement there. However, this is
not the time to blame others or to point fingers. Instead, there is a
need to better understand the real situation and get the experts to
explain why it is happening,” he said.
During the event, Masidi presented a RM5,000 donation from his ministry to the 120 Pusat Latihan Dalam Komuniti Ranau trainees.
0 comments:
Post a Comment