KOTA KINABALU – The Sabah cabinet will soon decide on the development of the iconic Tg Aru Beach as a 15-year sand mining concession has been signed for reclamation of the beach.
According to Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, the popular Prince Philip Park in Tg Aru will now be expanded from 22 acres to 100 acres under the proposed development of the Tg Aru Eco Park.
Handal Borneo Resources Sdn Bhd, an associate firm of Handal Energy Bhd, entered into an agreement with Tg Aru Eco Development (TAED), a unit of the Chief Minister Incorporated, for the operation, management, extraction and sale of marine sea sand for a 15-year period in three concession areas.
Handal Energy noted this in its Bursa Malaysia filing on December 19. The concession areas are the sunken Barrier Shoal, Hayter Shoal and Bunbury Shoal, near Kota Kinabalu city.
The move is part of a reclamation plan to develop the controversial billion-ringgit project.
“This is the proposed development. But we will discuss this further in the cabinet,” Hajiji said.
“The beach will be improved from its existing state, and Prince Philip Park which is about 22 acres will be expanded to 100 acres.
“So we will decide whether to agree with the plan. This is only to reclaim the beachfront. We have not decided on the development yet,” he told reporters after visiting damaged homes due to high-tide incidents here today.
Two former state governments in Sabah, led by Barisan Nasional and Warisan respectively, have failed to start the controversial beachfront project mooted in 2016, following opposition from activists and individuals.
The present Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) government indicated that the project will be restarted with a scaled-down version of the original plan after taking power over the state in September 2020.
However, as far as matters stand, the popular beach has been purposely left barely attended by the local government during the course of time.
The new contract, which took effect on December 19, 2022, will see some 153 million cubic metres of sand mined for bulk filling for the reclamation projects and recreational beach.
In September 2021, Hajiji assured that Tg Aru beach and Prince Philip Park will be maintained as the state government proceeds with the TAED project.
He had said that TAED will be people-centric, with more public spaces and accessibility features incorporated in the revised, scaled-down version of the project.
In another development, the state will decide during the cabinet meeting tomorrow whether to allow Chinese nationals to visit Sabah, or introduce its own procedures for them.
“I will make further comments on the matter after the cabinet collectively decides on the matter,” he said. – The Vibes, January 3, 2023
