Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Cabinet to discuss Kundasang report today – Masidi


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.

Source: Borneo Post


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