KUCHING – The Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) has submitted a dossier to the Unesco World Heritage Centre for initial assessment to recognise Niah National Park as a Unesco World Heritage Site, said Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan.
Sarawak’s second natural resources and urban development minister said the state’s authority submitted the dossier to the global body on September 27 this year.
“In connection with this, the SFC has actively conducted various programmes including organising an International Conference on Niah National Park as Unesco’s World Heritage Site together with the Sarawak Museum Department,” he said when delivering his winding up-speech today.
Awang Tengah said the SFC had also implemented several upgrading projects for the facilities and infrastructure in some Totally Protected Areas (TPAs) to attract more tourists to the destination.
He said development works are being carried out including the bridge and elevated road for buggy at Niah National Park, Miri; Piasau Nature Reserve Discovery Centre, Miri; Semenggoh Rainforest Discovery Centre, Kuching; Matang Family Park, Kuching; and Bukit Lima Nature Reserve One-Stop Centre, Sibu.
He said the SFC is regulating 67 TPAs in Sarawak to preserve nature and continue its various biodiversity conservation initiatives including making TPAs ecotourism destinations and helping improve the socioeconomic standards of the rural community.
On enforcement, Awang Tengah said SFC had recorded a total of 252 offences committed in TPAs from 2020 to September this year.
He said 27 offences out of the total had been brought to court where a total of RM82,175,750 in fines had been imposed.
“And a total of 28 offenders were sentenced to jail and this includes offenders who failed to pay the fines that had been ordered by the court.
“Apart from that, a total of RM304,250 had been collected from 110 cases that had been compounded,” he said, adding that another 115 cases are still under investigation.
Touching on the Sarawak Reef Ball Project, he said RM70 million had been spent on covering a coastal area of 1,000km up to September 19 this year.
Under this phase, he said a total of 16,800 reef balls had been docked.
“Preliminary findings indicate that reef ball cultivation is able to increase the catch by local fishermen. Therefore, the Sarawak government has approved a subsequent phase worth RM30 million,” he said.
He added that the second phase will be implemented gradually starting next year. – Borneo Post Online, December 1, 2022
