KOTA KINABALU – Local conservation groups are calling for the Warisan-led Sabah government to stop the Tg Aru Eco Development project as promised by the party’s vice-president and assemblyman Datuk Junz Wong.
But residents there do not share the same sentiment. They are asking for the project to continue with some conditions.
Resident Azlan Mohd Jaafar, 39, said the demands of the Tg Aru folk are being ignored by conservation groups.
“Us here in Tg Aru want the project to go on. We rejected the original development plan because it was likely to become a posh area for rich foreigners.
“What was in it for us? This was why we were against it.”
Rising waters
Azlan’s family settled in Tg Aru from Kimanis in the 1940s after World War II and since then saw the changes to the area, especially its beachfront.
“The coastline is no longer what it used to be in the 1990s,” he said.
His stilt house that was built in 1977 is supported by several 28ft-long logs and did not experience floods until the last 10 years.
Azlan, who is a former Tg Aru native chief, has rubbished claims from environmental groups that the beach did not need refurbishment as the coastline remained pristine for the last few decades.
Wanting to be heard
Fourth-generation Kg Tg Aru resident, Azrul Binsu, expressed his frustration over how conservation groups are dominating the issue.
“Who do they think they are? We want this project to go on. Many of the residents here are blue-collared workers and government servants. Locals need jobs and business opportunities.”
He also criticised Tg Aru rep Wong for being unavailable after winning the seat in the 2018 general election.
“We are only seeing more of him after the state election is called.”
He said Wong had also allowed several British colonial buildings to be renovated.
Vocal opposition from conservationists
Local conservation groups have heavily criticised the project, saying no major redevelopment was needed for the beach.
In 2014, after the then Barisan Nasional government announced the project, a few civil society groups got together to form the Tanjung Aru Action Group 2.0.
They are WWF-Malaysia, Himpunan Hijau, Land Empowerment Animals People, Pacos Trust, Pusat Belia Youth-PREP Alamesra, Sabah Environmental Protection Association, Sabah Women’s Action-Resources Group and Save Open Spaces Kota Kinabalu.
The 15ha beach is one of Sabah’s best-known tourist spots.
The development project was set to double the size of the beach and the original plan included a refurbished park, a promenade, walking and cycling tracks, and an ecology centre.
It also included a 133ha golf course, seven hotels with 1,800 rooms, and 5,000 apartment and condominium units. The price tag was at RM7.1 billion while an additional RM1.1 billion was for reclamation work.
Wong, who defeated Parti Bersatu Sabah’s Edward Yong Oui Fah in 2018, made an election promise that he would put a stop to the project.
A few months after Warisan came into power, chief minister Mohd Shafie Apdal said a scaled-down version of the project would continue.
He later announced that 30% of the TAED would be sold to investors for development and the remaining 70% consisting of the beach, park, reserve and public spaces would be accessible to the public.
This did not go down well among conservationists who now accuse Warisan of breaking its promise while reminding the party it would not have been voted in with support from civil society groups.
Kota Kinabalu coordinator for NGO Save Open Space SM Muthu said Wong made him “look like a fool”.
Sabah Environment Protection Association leader Lanash Thanda meanwhile questioned the transparency of the project.
The details of the scaled-down project were never made public by the state government until recently.
In his defense, Wong says he has not broken any promise as he has reassured that the famous beach will always remain accessible to the public.
On the accusation that he had gone back on his word during the previous general election campaign, he said, “I wasn't against development, but when the then Barisan Nasional government mooted TAED, they wanted to put the beach as a collateral to raise the RM4 billion fund needed to construct the beachfront project.”
He said various parties had expressed interest over such arrangements but the Warisan-led Sabah government had rejected all of them.
He said companies are welcome to develop the area into a “world class beachfront like St Kilda in Melbourne or Manly Beach in Sydney Australia,” without making it private.
“Up until now, there were no takers to our offer,” he added.
Besides, if the Warisan-led government's main interest was to make money, Wong said he would have just allowed the construction of the project to continue.
Some 23,289 eligible voters in Tg Aru, mostly Muslim-Bumiputera are expected to choose their assemblyman among candidates from five parties, including Warisan, in the snap state election on September 26.
At least 25 parties will battle it out to form the next Sabah government. – The Vibes, September 20, 2020
