Kota Kinabalu: It seems there is no end to damage being inflicted on Sabah's popular tourism spots. Recently, it was damage to corals by a barge at Sipadan. Now, Daily Express can reveal that even Mt Kinabalu - Sabah's first World Heritage site - has not been spared.
A RM5.3 million four-storey concrete and steel resthouse-cum-restaurant project at Layang-Layang, 9,000 feet above sea level, has been abandoned by the contractor.
Not only were Sabahans not told what was being built there, just like in Sipadan. The abandoned site is now one of carnage, raising doubts as to whether serious consideration was given to the fact that it would be a herculean task to build a four-storey structure hugging a mountainside without carrying out blasting at the World Heritage Site that is already known to be a geologically unstable area.
The project funded and supervised by the Federal Development Department Sabah (JPPS) was supposed to accommodate 70 climbers and scheduled for completion last month. It is situated at the junction of the main South-ridge Tourist Trail and Mesilan Trail, near Carsons Camp.
The project is in response to the often heavy bookings at Kinabalu Park. However, although the need for such accommodation is not doubted, what appears to have been ignored are safety (since it is four-storeys) and environmental considerations.
According to one tourism player, the project would suit a three day-two night package for the elderly and would be in demand but not if several storeys high.
"The present capacity at Panar Laban (11,000ft) is 120 people and is always booked under the management of Sutera Harbour Resort. This is rather unfair to tour operators because they always say it is full house," said Tham.
JPPS appointed a contractor connected to a former Deputy Chief Minister to do the job but it was farmed out to another contractor that abandoned it after blasting the granite mountainsides and leaving a mess of stones, sand, steel and other building materials.
A developer who climbed Kinabalu recently alerted the situation to Daily Express. He said JPPS should have built a single storey environmental-friendly structure instead.
"Common sense dictates that since the site is at 9,000ft above sea level and likely designed using heavy "I" beam sections, it will require costly helicopter cargo-lifts to the construction site.
"To make the construction possible, the use of tower crane is mandatory, adding costs in the transportation of the crane by helicopter as well as the costs in installing and dismantling the crane so high up the mountain," he said.
He said construction using reinforced concrete materials is very heavy, requires blasting, casting and curing and both the low temperature and high altitude would affect concrete strength.
"The design of the external works requires excavation into the rock which means further blasting is necessary.
"Blasting of the original granite rock is ecologically unfriendly given the fact that this is a World Heritage Site. It is also very costly and time consuming to implement," he said.
Daily Express reliably learnt that the contractor abandoned the project after having already blasted 19 foundation posts with another 21 more to be blasted.
"A single-storey structure inter-linked to one another would only require anchoring into the hard rock using high-tension expansion bolts. No blasting is necessary and is a non-invasive method of construction," he said.
There is no doubt that additional accommodation is welcome in view of the mountain's popularity and the fact that some climbers do not wish to hurry to the top.
The construction of the four-storey structure would require airlifting some 500 tonnes of building materials to Layang-Layang.
"The airlift cost of RM1.2 million was budgeted into the total project cost. Therefore no one should blame airlift cost as cause of the abandonement," the source said.
The airlift job was awarded to Baltic Pacific, a Latvian company using Russian Kamov KA32 helicopters capable of maximum load of 3.5 tonnes at sea level and about 2.2 tonnes at 9,000 ft.
The source said the helicopter airlift pilots are trained to do precision work.
"They are experts in lowering load right on the dot using long line. They may hover 100 metres above the site so that they don't need to cut trees and the downwash also would not disturb the forest canopy.
"Still, in one of these flights up to Layang-Layang, the pilot reportedly "ditched" to avert a potential crash by jettisoning loads of metal pieces in to the valley.
"Fortunately, it did not hit any tourists or people on the ground," said the source.
Daily Express also learnt that JPPS has called for new tenders for the project - ironically using the same design. Talk that the earlier contractors are being sued by JPPS could also not be confirmed as none of its officials could be reached.
Last year, some Members of Parliament have called for JPPS to close shop as the State is no longer under the opposition and Federal funds should be channelled direct to the State Government to implement the various projects.
The MPs also said they do not know what are the projects going on in their areas as they were never consulted by JPPS.
A RM5.3 million four-storey concrete and steel resthouse-cum-restaurant project at Layang-Layang, 9,000 feet above sea level, has been abandoned by the contractor.
Not only were Sabahans not told what was being built there, just like in Sipadan. The abandoned site is now one of carnage, raising doubts as to whether serious consideration was given to the fact that it would be a herculean task to build a four-storey structure hugging a mountainside without carrying out blasting at the World Heritage Site that is already known to be a geologically unstable area.
The project funded and supervised by the Federal Development Department Sabah (JPPS) was supposed to accommodate 70 climbers and scheduled for completion last month. It is situated at the junction of the main South-ridge Tourist Trail and Mesilan Trail, near Carsons Camp.
The project is in response to the often heavy bookings at Kinabalu Park. However, although the need for such accommodation is not doubted, what appears to have been ignored are safety (since it is four-storeys) and environmental considerations.
According to one tourism player, the project would suit a three day-two night package for the elderly and would be in demand but not if several storeys high.
"The present capacity at Panar Laban (11,000ft) is 120 people and is always booked under the management of Sutera Harbour Resort. This is rather unfair to tour operators because they always say it is full house," said Tham.
JPPS appointed a contractor connected to a former Deputy Chief Minister to do the job but it was farmed out to another contractor that abandoned it after blasting the granite mountainsides and leaving a mess of stones, sand, steel and other building materials.
A developer who climbed Kinabalu recently alerted the situation to Daily Express. He said JPPS should have built a single storey environmental-friendly structure instead.
"Common sense dictates that since the site is at 9,000ft above sea level and likely designed using heavy "I" beam sections, it will require costly helicopter cargo-lifts to the construction site.
"To make the construction possible, the use of tower crane is mandatory, adding costs in the transportation of the crane by helicopter as well as the costs in installing and dismantling the crane so high up the mountain," he said.
He said construction using reinforced concrete materials is very heavy, requires blasting, casting and curing and both the low temperature and high altitude would affect concrete strength.
"The design of the external works requires excavation into the rock which means further blasting is necessary.
"Blasting of the original granite rock is ecologically unfriendly given the fact that this is a World Heritage Site. It is also very costly and time consuming to implement," he said.
Daily Express reliably learnt that the contractor abandoned the project after having already blasted 19 foundation posts with another 21 more to be blasted.
"A single-storey structure inter-linked to one another would only require anchoring into the hard rock using high-tension expansion bolts. No blasting is necessary and is a non-invasive method of construction," he said.
There is no doubt that additional accommodation is welcome in view of the mountain's popularity and the fact that some climbers do not wish to hurry to the top.
The construction of the four-storey structure would require airlifting some 500 tonnes of building materials to Layang-Layang.
"The airlift cost of RM1.2 million was budgeted into the total project cost. Therefore no one should blame airlift cost as cause of the abandonement," the source said.
The airlift job was awarded to Baltic Pacific, a Latvian company using Russian Kamov KA32 helicopters capable of maximum load of 3.5 tonnes at sea level and about 2.2 tonnes at 9,000 ft.
The source said the helicopter airlift pilots are trained to do precision work.
"They are experts in lowering load right on the dot using long line. They may hover 100 metres above the site so that they don't need to cut trees and the downwash also would not disturb the forest canopy.
"Still, in one of these flights up to Layang-Layang, the pilot reportedly "ditched" to avert a potential crash by jettisoning loads of metal pieces in to the valley.
"Fortunately, it did not hit any tourists or people on the ground," said the source.
Daily Express also learnt that JPPS has called for new tenders for the project - ironically using the same design. Talk that the earlier contractors are being sued by JPPS could also not be confirmed as none of its officials could be reached.
Last year, some Members of Parliament have called for JPPS to close shop as the State is no longer under the opposition and Federal funds should be channelled direct to the State Government to implement the various projects.
The MPs also said they do not know what are the projects going on in their areas as they were never consulted by JPPS.
Source: Daily Express
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