Call for Labuan Marine Park to be tourism centre

LABUAN: The director general of Marine Park, Dr Sukarno Wagiman, disclosed that the marine park here needs to be turned into a tourism hotspot to boost the local economy.

In his speech during ‘Majlis Ramah Mesra’ programme with heads of government departments and agencies here, he said the marine parks in the peninsular were now successful as tourism products.

“The marine parks in the peninsular are becoming significant tourism centres.

For example, at Payar Island, Kedah, the island is receiving around 200,000 tourists annually.

“The biggest tourist arrivals to the island are from the Middle East countries, China, Korea and Japan. The island does not have any dwellers but they still go there. “My target is to turn the marine park here into an important tourism product just like Payar Island and at other marine parks,” he said.

“Before, the turtles here were not that well known and only after the initiative undertaken by the department with direct funds from Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd for the turtles’ hatcheries, scientific study and others, then the turtles are now getting well known. “About a thousand turtles had been set free to the open sea this year,” he said.

Sukarno commented that Malaysia had joined the biodiversity agreement with the other countries whereby each country must have a marine park for ten percent from their respective waters.

“We are now collaborating with Sabah Parks and agencies in Sarawak in our effort to achieve the ten percent as we are only having one percent of the marine park from our waters in this country.

“The marine park is a sanctuary or breeding spot for various types of marine lives either for commercial or non-commercial purpose,” he said.

The marine park in Labuan comprises Kuraman, Rusukan Besar and Rusukan Kecil islands. Sukarno explained the importance of the coral reefs in correlation with the forests which absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the air.

“When the sanctuary (coral reefs) are protected, the fish will breed a lot and finally they will move from the reefs to outside the marine park area.

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Labuan needs more tourism products

LABUAN: The tourism sector here needed to offer more tourism products to attract visitors to the island, said Labuan Airport manager Muhammad Yusran Hakkam.

He said the island’s location, which is between Kota Kinabalu and Miri, both with well-known tourism products, made the island face difficult challenges in developing its tourism sector.

“I am not blaming the tourism industry here, but we need to try new tourism products to fulfill the people’s aspirations and to see more flights carrying tourists or visitors here.

“The main constraint to have more flights here is because of the low number of passengers coming here,” he told The Borneo Post yesterday.

Yusran admitted that not many activities could be done here as compared to Kota Kinabalu and Miri.

“Sabah tourism industry is really active, plus the state is a MAS hub.”

When asked about international flights to Labuan, he acknowledged that none had landed here since the 90s.

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Australian Surrender Point re-launched in Labuan

LABUAN: The Surrender Point memorial monument was re-launched on Saturday at Kampung Layang-Layangan here after its renovation works that started in July was completed.

Australian War Office director Brigadier Chris Appleton who co-officiated the monument together with Senator Datuk Yunus Kurus, said the monument served as a reminder of the end of war 66 years ago.

“This monument is a reminder for us where World War II (WWII) came to an end, and to commemorate the services and sacrifices of soldiers who were from several nationalities who brought the war to its closing.

“I still remember my father who was a teenager during the war, bringing supplies from Australia to Victoria Harbour in Labuan, telling me how the people of Sabah and Labuan suffered severely because of the Japanese army. The locals were forced into hard labour,” he said.

He added that servicemen, including the people of Borneo and locals who were captured as prisoners of wars (POWs), were executed, while others simply disappeared.

“It is hard to comprehend such matters as we enjoy the comforts of living today.

“There were good Samaritans among the people of Borneo who helped the Resistance against the Japanese, including a story of an Australian soldier who was hidden by a local man when the soldiers were forced to march from Ranau to Sandakan.

“We should never forget the darkest hours while we do everything to sustain our freedom.

“We should never forget it and that is why we are here today to commemorate our grandfathers who gave us the future where they themselves lost theirs,” he said yesterday.

The renovation project was undertaken and funded by the office of the Australian War Graves, Canberra, Australia.

The surrender point is the site where the 37th Japanese Southern Army surrendered to the Australian Imperial Forces 9th Division on September 9, 1945, which led to the end of WWII in Borneo.

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Tourists facing constraints in Labuan

LABUAN: Tourists are constrained when visiting the islands here for water sport activities. For example, they are unable to do water sport on the spot unless they have made a booking and this is wasting their time, said the manager of Tourist Information Centre here Sharon Kenny.

It is not like at Jesselton Point in Kota Kinabalu; the tourists can go to their chosen islands at any time with reasonable boat fare plus there are some facilities, including water sports, at the islands.

It is unlikely they can do the same here. For example, if they wanted to go to Kuraman or Papan island, they need to book for the boat first and they will be charged RM300 for a return trip for five persons or more per group.

“However, if the tourists are couples, they will be charged the same rate even though there are only two persons in the boat, not like in Kota Kinabalu; two persons will still get the reasonable price,” she pointed out yesterday.

Sharon added that most of the tourists that came here wanted to do their activities on the spot, for example, scuba diving, snorkelling and kayaking, but they were unable to do so because of the lack of operators doing the activities here.

“Labuan is an island with full of opportunities just like Langkawi, but we need to add some more water sport activities here,” she said.

When asked on the impact of the just concluded oil and gas expo here on Labuan’s tourism, she said there was positive outcome as the Tourist Information Centre also opened a booth during the expo.

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707,458 tourists toured Labuan last year

LABUAN: Labuan is yet to enjoy tourism returns despite the huge spending to pay for tourism infrastructures.

Deputy Tourism Minister Datuk Dr James Davos Mamit said only 707,458 tourists including 74,499 foreign visitors toured the island last year.

“Although the number of arrivals is increasing, the yields generated from the tourism industry have not been able to cover the money spent by the ministry to build tourism facilities on the island,” he said.

Dr James said that it was high time for the tourism players to introduce more tourism products especially in the area of marine tourism.

“We can use this platform to turn Labuan into main tourist destination,” he said in his speech at the opening of the national Water Festival held at the International Water Sports Complex here.

He said the annual water festival must be aggressively promoted so that it could be associated with Labuan.

This year, more than 540 participants are taking part in the Labuan International Sea Challenge and among them are teams from New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, Brunei, India and Singapore.

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Labuan's intriguing water village

By Rosli Abidin Yahya

Just like Brunei, a trip to the island of Labuan is not complete without visiting the unit and intriguing water villages or Kampung Air.

Visitors may be forgiven if they are still thinking that water villages mean traditional wooden houses on stilts joined by a maze of inter-connecting wooden walkways.

The houses may still made of wood and built on stilts.

But a touch of colours has changed the look of the houses.

The houses at Labuan Kampung Air are now painted with a variety of bright colours.

And at least in three villages - Kampung Patau-Patau 1, Kampung Patau-Patau 2 and Kampung Lajau - the maze of inter-connecting walkways is now made of concrete.

There is no danger for villagers and visitors falling into the water when the wooden planks gave in.

The concrete walkways are also wide and connect hundreds of houses.

Metal rail guards are now fixed to the sides of the concrete walkways so that the people has a sense of security when walking on the walkways.

At Kampung Patau-Patau 2, there is even a road leading to the village.

Thanks to a land reclamation project, most of the water villages are now accessible by road.

A huge car park was also built for the villagers so they can park their cars near to their houses.

The residents of Kampung Patau-Patau 2 are mainly Brunei Malays.

Almost every house still has its own boat. They also added a car to their collection so they can go to town by road.

The houses can be quite large and they all have a cool veranda in front.

Some are eye-catching with pots of brightly coloured bougainvillea and orchid flowers.

At one house, the owner also has a garden which he named Taman Romantika.

The villages are made up of large communities with shops, mosques and other facilities.

Kampung Patau-Patau 2 was established in the 1930's.

According to the residents, the whole village was wiped out by a Japanese bomb during World War II.

The resilient villagers rebuilt the village from scratch once the war was over.

The architecture and concept of the water village dates back to their ancestors in Brunei.

To this day, the water village residents incorporate their Bruneian culture and customs into their daily lives.

The old people still go to the seas to catch fish. Crabs are also caught using a large 'pintur' which they line up along the river.

At least a few of the old folks also make boats, just like the boat industry in the water villages of Brunei.

Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin Weekend
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Labuan Grand Dorsett Hotel celebrated third anniversary

LABUAN: The Labuan Grand Dorsett Hotel celebrated its third anniversary yesterday by entertaining the disabled children from the Community In Treatment Centre (PDK Mutiara).

Asian Supply Base (ASB) Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Harris Hj Annuar Tan officiated at the celebration.

Harris said that there is now a trend in the private sector to get close and to embrace the community under their Corporate Social Responsibility programme.

The Grand Dorsett, according to Harris, has done very well in exemplifying its social responsibility towards the community on the island.

“Labuan is progressing well, mainly in the oil and gas industry and it receives more visitors who are mainly business people.

“They have certain expectations when it comes to accommodation, function and meeting requirements.

“By having an excellent hotel as the Grand Dorsett, the people on the island have been assured that this has been taken care of,” he said.

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Driving from Brunei to Labuan

By AK

The Muara-Labuan-Muara vehicle and passenger ferry service which has started operation on 4 October 2010, is going to be an added destination for Bruneians to travel by car in. So far they travel to Malaysia's Miri and Limbang by car.

One may be able to take a day trip on one's private vehicle including bicycle, motorcycle, sedan car, small van, MPVs and SUVs across the border to Labuan very soon.

Labuan is an island surrounded by coral reef just north of Brunei Bay belonging to Malaysia.

It has always been a rich island, where taxes are nonexistent, attracting ships and traders throughout the world.

There were many battles fought between the Japanese and allied forces during World War II, leaving behind quite a few shipwrecks. In the last few decades, the island has become a financial centre for insurance, banking and investment.

A ticket to get to Labuan from Brunei by boat is priced between $17 and $22, and the journey from Muara to the island takes slightly over an hour. The boat operators plan to operate a total of four trips daily.

Once a part of the Sultanate of Brunei, Labuan was ceded to the British in 1846. It remained under the British rule for 115 years, except for the three years when it was under the Japanese occupation.

With the increasing change in colonisation, Labuan was ceded to the state of Sabah in 1963. Subsequently, its administration was handed to the Federal Government of Malaysia in 1984. Recognising Labuan's strategic location and proximity to major shipping routes and offshore oil and gas fields, the Federal Government launched a long-term development programme to jump-start Labuan's stagnating economy and to encourage the influx of both domestic and foreign investments.

As Malaysia's only deepwater anchorage, Labuan is a free port, a Federal Territory, and an International Offshore Financial Centre (IOFC).

The World War II Memorial is one of the most visited places in Labuan. The beautifully landscaped memorial garden is the final resting place of 3,908 war heroes who died in battle or captivity in Borneo during the Second World War.

Every year in November a commemoration is held (Remembrance Day) to honour the lives of the valiant men who fought during the war.

The Chimney, with its usage still a mystery until today, stands at 106 feet high at Tanjung Kubong (besides Labuan Bird Park). Believed to be built during the coal mining era (1847-1912), the structure contains 23,000 England imported bricks with 12 layers of foundations beneath the surface.

Another tourist attraction is the Labuan Bird Park, located near Tanjung Kubong. Here visitors can check out the wide variety of species of Borneo birds and its collection of rare birds. The birds in the Labuan Bird Park fly inside large dome-shaped cages

Also a must-see is the the exact surrendering point of the Japanese army to the Australian army, which marked the end of the 2nd World War in Borneo.

The Peace Park is just a few steps away from the surrendering point. Funded and maintained mainly by the Japanese Shipbuilding Industry Foundation, the park is well-maintained and serves as a memorial of the war.

For greater convenience to travel about while in Labuan, picking a hotel based in the town area is crucial, making sure the whole town is accessible by foot.

To get around outside the town area, such as the beautiful beaches and the Chimney, hail a taxi at the jetty, where dozens are available, or rent a car for the day. Buses are fewer in numbers, so perhaps that should be an option visitors resort to last.

Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin
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