Sabah marine park overcrowded

March 28, 2016 Mon

By Olivia Miwil
olivia@nst.com.my

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Parks will look into sustainable methods to manage overcrowding at Tunku Abdul Rahman park (TARP) here, said the park manager Justinus Guntabid. 

"Islands in the park, such as Mamutik, Manukan and Sapi, are under stress as human activities such as diving, snorkelling, anchoring, pose threat to the nature, especially coral reefs population around the park.

"The presence of big crowds increases water usage, especially in washrooms, as each person goes to toilet about three times per visit,” he said at a briefing for tour operators during a trip organised by Sabah Tourist Association.

Sabah Parks spends RM600,000 to get  water from the nearest town, which is about 20 minutes away by boat, to meet the water demand.

He said a study showed the recommended carrying capacity for islands in the park was 817persons per day at Sapi, 355 at Padang Point and 109 at Pulau Gaya’s base camp.

Last year, 396,092 people, mainly tourists from China and Korea, visited the place.

There was an increase of five per cent foreign tourists in the first three months of this year compared with the same period last year.

Justinus added it was difficult to limit number of visitors as tourism was important for the state’s revenue.

Among measures that the government agency would take to tackle overcrowding include limiting number of people for barbeque meals at the beaches, diversifying sea activities and conducting educational programmes for the public.

On the issue of rubbish washed to islands from nearby towns, especially between May and June.

Justinus said there was no other ways but to have Sabah Park staff to clean the beaches early morning.

Sabah Tourist Association chairman Tony Chew gave assurance its members would complement government policy and guidelines to ensure the sustainability of tourism industry.