By Olivia Miwil
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah diving industry players have welcomed the new Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry (MOTAC) licensing requirements for dive guides.
Sabah Dive Squad Club president Sim Fui said regulation was important to raise accountability and safety standards.
However, he said it should also protect the livelihoods of Sabah's local dive guides and instructors.
"Registration should therefore create a fair and properly regulated industry where qualified local dive professionals are given priority and are not displaced by unregulated or unauthorised foreign freelance operators.
"Ultimately, we support regulation that achieves three objectives: protecting divers' safety, raising professional standards, and protecting employment opportunities for Sabah's local dive community," he said.
Under Motac's guidelines, new applicants for a scuba diving tourist guide licence must be Malaysian citizens aged at least 18, hold a valid minimum Dive Master or Dive Instructor certification, complete a recognised tourism course and be appointed or employed by a dive centre holding a valid Tourism Operation and Travel Agency Business (TOBTAB) licence.
Applicants must also join a tourist guide association and submit supporting documents, including medical reports, diving certification and proof of appointment by a licensed dive centre.
The guideline took effect on April 15, but its requirements only came to the attention of many divers after the Malaysia Scuba Diving Association announced on its Facebook page that it would conduct a one-day course nationwide to help dive professionals prepare for the registration process.
Semporna Diving Professionals Association president Suzimin Edris said the registration system could improve oversight by enabling authorities and dive operators to establish who was properly qualified to work in the industry.
He said the requirement could also ensure dive companies hired registered professionals and met their obligations to contribute to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Social Security Organisation (Socso), rather than freely engaging freelance workers.
Suzimin said registration could benefit dive professionals by giving them clearer employment opportunities, but called for the application process to be simplified as applicants currently had to prepare numerous documents.
Freelance diving instructor Aquila Chu, 41, who is based in Kota Kinabalu and Semporna, said the growing number of local and foreign instructors made greater structure and supervision necessary.
"At the moment it is really free for all .As the numbers of locals and foreign instructors keep increasing, it's the right direction to move in.
"It's all fun until accidents happen. Some kind of standard and supervision is good for everyone," he said.
However, Aquila remained sceptical about how the new system would be implemented and supervised, stressing that regulation would only be meaningful if it translated into consistent safety standards across the industry.
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