Monday, January 04, 2010

Support for Maliau heritage site proposal

Kota Kinabalu: The State Finance Ministry strongly supports the call by State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun for the Maliau Basin to achieve World Heritage Site status.

"It is very important for us to protect Maliau Basin and its rich biodiversity from any harm," said the Ministry's Permanent Secretary, Datuk Yusoff Kassim, who led two excursions to the site in May, 2008 and in June this year.

Some 31 Ministry officers and staff participated in the yearly activity, as well as from the State Economic Planning Unit, State Treasury Department, State Railways Department and Malaysia Productivity Corporation.

If it materialised, the declaration of Maliau as a World Heritage site would be a double bonus for Sabah after Mount Kinabalu which acquired the status a decade ago.

A similar call in favour of Maliau was also made by former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohamad in 2003.

Masidi has directed his officers to do a thorough study on the world renowned Basin. "I hope to get this done in three months before bringing it up as a proposal to the Cabinet," said Masidi.

Maliau Basin, covering 588.4 sq km, also known as Sabah's Lost World, houses the many natural wonders in one of the most captivating and mysteriously beautiful protected areas in the world.

Maliau Basin's importance in terms of protecting a tremendous range of ecosystems with innumerable species of plants and animals, many of which are rare and endangered, has already become evident.

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