Myles Togoh
In their rush to urbanise this seaside city,
they are pushing ahead with plans to turn the last few remaining
untouched parkland-like areas in the city into a concrete jungle.
So far, so good. Your leaders are concerned. Their reassuring sentiments are in keeping with the global trends of conscientious living and respect for the surroundings.
Is anyone following their advice?
Over here in Sabah, they’re not so interested. It’s a passing fad. Environmental armageddon be damned. Balanced development for a better quality of life is not yet a priority here even if the prime minister and his cabinet endorse it.
The Sabah Environmental Protection Association (Sepa) is besides itself with rage over the vapid response by the government to environmental offences.
They show how hills have been levelled, protected forests razed and marine ecosystems destroyed without so much as a slap on the wrist by enforcement authorities.
They’ve complained loudly, exposed projects as inherently hare-brained, launched campaigns and filed legal suits to stop the rot but the property development juggernaut is ploughing ahead and some are concerned about the direction local authorities are taking them.
City authorities want growth and the city has grown by leaps and bounds over the last two decades, fed mainly by immigrants. But after initially sprawling outward, the focus now seems to be to allow the takeover of precious green areas within the city.
Property prices are high, developers are making urgent demands and the local authorities are shortsighted.
In their rush to urbanise this seaside city, they are pushing ahead with plans to turn the last few remaining untouched parkland-like areas in the city into a concrete jungle.
Among those to be carved up by the developers’ bulldozers is the iconic Signal Hill overlooking the city’s seafront, much to the chagrin of its well-heeled residents. A 13-storey condominium has been approved on the hill notorious for landslips.
Some of the properties there date back to the time of British colonial rule and among them is the Istana and the stately British governor’s residence which is now owned by the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank and houses its branch manager.
Hills are going
Elsewhere within the city limits, hills are also being targeted for levelling. Some that only a decade or so ago were designated ‘green areas’ by Kota Kinabalu City Hall have seen a flurry of activity by surveyors placing markers and workers drilling for soil samples.
According to some, expensive high-rise condominium blocks are set to be built by some well-connected businessmen on what is now a forested hill and a haven for birds, insects and some small wildlife.
But the haphazard urban planning that is eroding the quality of life in what used to be a naturally scenic seaside town is not limited to the largish green zones that have lost their protection.
Children’s playgrounds in housing layouts have not been spared. Many are now the sites of public or private buildings in violation of local authorities’ regulations.
The city’s once idyllic Tanjong Aru Beach has also not been spared. An iron-girder and glass-clad structure now takes up most of the main beachfront. Many of its famed casuarina or ‘aru’ trees that fringe the beach have been chopped down.
A once bewitching place to watch some great sunsets has been taken over by garish restaurants, throbbing music, ugly banners and a near slum-like hawker stalls complete with rivulets of dirty water and its resident population of highly invigorated rats.
The iron bars over the drains that presumably are there to prevent strollers from stepping in are bent at a dangerous angle in some places and threaten to impale the unwary. All this is guarded by an automated gate at the entrance to the beachfront parking lot and as you exit you pay for the privilege at the parking toll booth.
“If all this was put up to beautify this beach, its more like a facelift for Halloween,” joked an expatriate living close by. The beach development is just a stone’s throw from some expensive condominiums across the road and about 500 meters from a 5-star hotel.
Other long-time residents lament that the city is losing its character due to poor planning. They say mistakes have been compounded by more mistakes and they are suspicious that town planners do not have a clue about how to develop the city into a pleasant place to live.
They point to the bizarre, monster-size replicas of fish, prawns, flower, fruits and and similar objects as City Hall’s way of decorating roundabouts and other strategic places to give character to the city.
“They look like toys strewn around by children. They don’t reflect anything about this state or city or have any decorative value or even make people think, opined a local artist.
“It’s becoming like any other city and that’s a pity because KK has its own identity that has been painstakingly built up since the time of the colonial government,” commented Richard Nelson Sokial, an architect who helped found a pressure group hoping to preserve the remaining vestiges of Sabah’s ‘character’.
Dubious re-zonings
The group, Heritage Sabah, among others hopes to act as a check on the destruction of the state’s legacy through dubious re-zoning of areas to accommodate big business and property developers.
Buildings and structures dating back to Sabah’s pre-independence days are on their radar.
Members of the NGO, all ordinary city residents, have moved to thwart an attempt by local authorities to erect a multi-storey shopping centre cum car park just a few meters from the city’s century-old Atkinson Clock Tower. The area is a gazetted heritage site.
Over in Kudat, about three hours drive from here, a bitumen road leading to a promontory heralded as the ‘Tip of North Borneo’ has unnecessarily disfigured a splendid beach beside it.
It’s no better at the hill overlooking the northern most tip of Borneo island. A huge concrete parking lot radiating waves of heat seems to detract from the beauty of the spot.
The ‘beautification’ blunders don’t end there. Many are still enraged by the idiocy of local authorities who chopped down a magnificent, century-old tree in the centre of an interior town to make way for a public toilet.
The incident was carried prominently in local newspapers and elicited remarks of regret from senior government figures. The tree is now history and the public toilet has been sited elsewhere.
Meanwhile, local authorities are attempting a kind of very clever two-step to avoid criticism and to show that they too are concerned about dwindling green spots in this seaside city. Earlier this year they launched a costly tree planting programme.
AGREED
ReplyDeleteAll parties are urged to take part in the programme that involves environmental protection, as this is a very important element for the future of the world.
ReplyDeleteSafe the earth.
DeleteThe awareness of environmental protection should be nurtured because this responsibility should not fall on one party only but on the other hand, every member of society should come forward to protect the environment together.
ReplyDeleteLove for the environment should start at the school level because this is where the children can be moulded to develop a sense of responsibility in loving their environment.
ReplyDeleteyup.melentur buluh biar dari rebungnya..tahap kesedaran terhadap penjagaan alam sekitar perlu dilaksanakan pada peringkat yang terendah.
DeleteAlam sekitar harus dijaga untuk masa hadapan.
DeleteSabah state govt cares the environment.
ReplyDeleteThe Heart of Borneo (HoB) initiative is a significant initiative that will directly contribute towards the betterment in forest management and conservation.
ReplyDeleteProtect our environment for a green tomorrow.
ReplyDeletejagalah alam sekitar kta.
ReplyDeleteIt is our land, we have responsible to protect.
ReplyDeleteSemangat mencintai alam sekitar harus dipupuk sejak kecil lagi.
ReplyDeleteDemi generasi yang akan datang, masing-masing mainkan peranan untuk menjaga alam sekitar kami.
ReplyDeleteKesedaran harus ada di golongan awam
ReplyDeleteKesedaran harus di pupuk bermula dari awal lagi.
ReplyDeleteThe proposed IEM Training Centre here will have both passive and active features of green building according to the Green Building Index rating tools
ReplyDeleteThe Yellow Zone is where the villagers are allowed to catch the fish between one and four times a year while the Green Zone allows the villagers to catch the fish throughout the year based on existing regulations and rules set by a Tagal Committee and Fishery Department
ReplyDeleteSabah is known for its biodiversity, clean environment and nature based destinations and Sandakan is known as a gateway to Sabah’s nature. Environment conscious guests will be drawn to establishments which show real commitment in going green
ReplyDeleteThese organisations consistently heap praises on Musa’s forest conservation programmes. Forest areas are being replanted at record pace under Musa’s watch, making hundreds of thousands of previously logged areas green again within 30 years.
ReplyDeleteMalaysia is on the right track with its current initiatives in sustaining the environment, while developing its economy at the same time, said the new European Union (EU) Ambassador and Head of Delegation to Malaysia, Luc Vandebon.
ReplyDelete"Malaysia is taking the right initiatives and I am confident you're doing a good work here.
Delete"If a country develops economically with the speed like what is taking place in Malaysia you have to keep a close watch on what is happening with this development in terms of sustainability and environmental impact," he told Bernama in an interview.
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DeleteVandebon said the 27-member bloc, which created its first environment five-year action plan in 1974, has been at the forefront of the fight against climate change ever since.
"Some of our partners may find our views far-sighted, but we want to do our best in fighting climate change and this issue does not stop at any border," he said.
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DeleteOn the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) under the EU's coming Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) programme, he said a meeting was held recently between the EU's Commissioner Janez Potocnik and Malaysian Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities, Tan Sri Bernard Dompok.
The FLEGT-VPA programme, a bilateral agreement between the EU and timber-exporting countries, focuses on forestry governance and management and the harvesting of tropical timber.
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Delete"Negotiations started in January 2007 and are at an advanced stage. Several issues remain open. One of them is the geographic coverage of the VPA.
Delete"We would like the VPA to cover the entire territory. However, we are concerned about Sabah and Sarawak, where there has been a request from Malaysia to have a VPA with Peninsular Malaysia alone," he said.
However, Vandebon said, this will be extremely difficult to 'sell' in Europe where an agreement needed to be ratified by the council of the member states as well as the parliament.
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DeleteIn addition, signing an incomplete VPA will raise a number of political questions, which will have a negative impact on the VPA, he said.
Delete"We have come to a stage where we can envision signing a VPA with Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah, without including Sarawak at the moment.
"Sarawak will be joining at a later stage since the VPA with the peninsula alone would not work," he said, noting the move will be confusing as the percentage of timber imported from the two states was small.
DeleteHe said Dompok was convinced that an arrangement will be made before year-end."Dompok's words have given us hope," he said.
DeleteVandebon said the EU was impressed with Sabah's efforts in forest management, stakeholder involvement and conservation of tropical forests.
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Delete"This could be a great example, not only for Malaysia, but for the rest of the region. Therefore, it is important for us to sign the VPA with Malaysia," he said.
The ambassador was in Sabah recently where he attended the "The Heart of Borneo" conference.
Delete"I had a great opportunity to interact with the people I am currently dealing with and they are doing a fantastic job," he said.
DeletePreserving and protecting the environment require global efforts, thus it is vital that Natural Resources and Environment Board (NREB) establish close cooperation with neighbouring countries in handling environmental issues and phenomena, said Minister of Special Functions Tan Sri Datuk Amar Adenan Satem.
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DeleteHe pointed out that no single country in the world could say it had nothing to contribute towards safeguarding the environment as it was the duty of everyone.
Delete“There must be a global effort. You may say we are only a small country and whatever we do will not bring any impact to the global environment which is wrong because everybody must chip in their part,” he said.
He said environment was a global matter and therefore there must be cooperation, especially between neighbouring countries.
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Delete“We must have cooperation from neighbouring countries because this is a global matter. For example, the haze from Kalimantan cannot say to itself let’s stop at the border with Malaysia.
“There is no such thing so you need international cooperation with our neighbours and they need our cooperation. There must be a global effort,” he said.
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DeleteIn this regard, he said NREB must work together with other relevant agencies, bodies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Delete“Our officers must associate themselves with international efforts…must know what is going on in other countries also and not just within the local scene,” he said.
DeleteHe said being the leading environmental manager in the state, NREB should also think well beyond curing the damages caused to the environment over the years, stressing that its officers must not only know what they were doing but most importantly must be able to predict and pre-empt all possible consequences if laws and regulations to protect and safeguard the environment were breached.
Delete“To cure is fine but it is even better to prevent it from happening in the first place because prevention is always better then cure.
“So you must have a capacity in doing something new. Capacity to predict what is going to happen…capacity to pre-empt what is going to happen if you don’t follow this or that,” he said.
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DeleteAdenan, who is also NREB chairman, said this when opening the NREB senior officers’ conference (SOC) 2012 at a leading hotel here yesterday.
He said it was pointless for a country to have laws and regulations to protect the environment if they were not implemented properly and fully.
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Delete“We can have beautiful elaborate comprehensive laws but if they are not implemented properly and fully it will not achieve what we have set on. The laws are as good as the implementation,” he said.
State environmental quality controller Peter Sawal also spoke at the conference.
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