Absorb Mountain Guides and Create Sabah Flying Eagles

KOTA KINABALU - “There are important lessons for the Sabah government as the real-life heroic stories of the search and rescue efforts of the Kinabalu Mountain guides are slowly and surely being exposed and acknowledged locally after creating a worldwide sensation initially” said Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan, STAR Sabah Chief, commenting that the DPM has acknowledged their deeds and rewarding them with RM1,000 for their efforts.

If not for the mountain guides that were stranded with the climbers and the 32 guides that trekked up the mountain to assist despite the federal rescue agencies deciding to leave the 137 stranded climbers overnight, many of the climbers could have succumbed under the freezing conditions.

The rescue agencies may well defend their decision not to rescue the stranded climbers the same day and intending to leave them overnight on the summit of Mount Kinabalu.

The fact remains that miraculously all 137 climbers survived the 10-hours trek down through a new trail created by the guides amid tremors, aftershocks and falling rocks as well weathering the cold and hunger.   It is no ordinary feat as even a 10-hours trek on even ground is difficult to endure for any ordinary person.

Some may have perished if they had been left overnight at the summit.

From the RM1,000 reward, it is obvious that the federal government treat the lives of the 137 climbers as mere pittance let alone the heroic efforts of the guides who answered the clarion call to save the climbers out of their own responsibility without thinking of any reward.   It also shows that Sabah is treated as a step-child, a far-flung colony, and only become the Umno/BN fixed deposit when elections are near.

The actions by the federal government is totally unacceptable even if compared to the RM1.0 million payment granted by the Sarawak government and the RM100,000 contribution from the Penang State government.   It is not likely that other than the rescue efforts, the federal contribution would have reached even RM500,000.

At least the Sabah Minister for Tourism had the wisdom in deciding that the Sabah government will look into the welfare of the guides rather than announcing a similar RM1,000 reward.

The Sabah government should now consider setting up a Sabah Flying Eagles Squadron with its own helicopters and rescue teams which will not only cover Mount Kinabalu but also the Sabah Marine Parks as well as other emergencies throughout Sabah.   The present Flying Doctors could be merged with this Flying Eagles.

The mountain guides should be absorbed into regular or auxillary service in the Flying Eagles Squadron which can double up their normal Mount Kinabalu treks with rescue services given the recent history of quakes in Sabah.   This was proven in the safety of the 137 climbers that they brought down in the aftermath of the deadly quake.

For the marine parks, there could also be a team of divers and there are a number of existing expert Sabah divers that can be recruited who are as brave and heroic as the mountain guides.   That is the mould of Sabahans, brave and resilient, without having to depend on the federal agencies.