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By STEPHEN THEN [The Star, 9. July 2007]
MIRI: In an effort to ensure that virgin jungles in Sarawak are left
undisturbed as much as possible, the state government has imposed
higher levels of restrictions to limit the number of new eco-tourism
resort projects statewide.
It is now ‘extremely difficult’ to secure licence from the state
government to open up virgin jungles for building of tourist-resorts
and hotels, said Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam.
“We (state government) have received many applications for permits from
people who want to open up forests for building resorts and
accomodation facilities to attract tourists.
“We have already rejected many of these applications. We don’t want to
give permits for just anybody who want to set up eco-tourism projects.
“We want to leave our forests as natural as possible. Only those who
have a reputation of being able to carry out such projects with minimal
disruption to the ecosystem would be consider.
“Tougher policies are in place to ensure that the forests remain as natural as possible,” he said on Monday.
Dr Chan, who went on a tour of the Borneo Tropical Rainforest Resort
65kms south of here, said Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud in
his capacity as the State Minister for Planning and Resources
Management, had asked for the tougher measures because of worries that
permits may fall into the hands of incompetent developers.
Dr Chan, who is State Agriculture Modernisation Minister and State
Industrial Development Minister, said it is better to limit the number
of eco-tourism resorts even though this may limit tourism development.
“We want the forests to be as natural as possible. We don’t want people
to open up jungle resorts and then end up bringing the city into the
jungles.
“We need to have more forests. People are starting to miss the forests,” he said.
Dr Chan praised the developer of the Borneo Tropical Rainforest Resort
for not causing too much damage to the ecosystem when carrying out the
project.
This resort uses a lot of natural products for its infrastructure
facilities and the construction process does not involve clearing or
destroying the natural environment as most of the natural habitat and
natural biodiversity remains unharmed, he noted.
The resort, which measures the size of 2,000 football fields combined, will be opened next year.
It would also offer night safari tours, visits to see orchids and farm tours as part of its attractions.
The forests in the resort is home to hornbills, wild deers, boars,
monkeys and shelters a wide variety of trees, plants and flowers.
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