Threat To Mabul and Sipadan

This was in the news a couple of weeks ago, and I'm wondering if anyone in the Wetpixel community have heard about it:

Will new resort threaten Malaysia's top dive spot?

An oceanarium resort planned near the world-famous Sipadan diving spot off Malaysian Borneo could spell disaster for the region's delicate coral reefs, say environmentalists. -AFP

Tue, Nov 18, 2008

AFP

KUALA LUMPUR - AN OCEANARIUM resort planned near the world-famous Sipadan diving spot off Malaysian Borneo could spell disaster for the region's delicate coral reefs, environmentalists said on Tuesday.

The plan for the huge resort, complete with an artificial reef and research facilities, has also come under attack from indigenous Bajau or 'sea gypsies' who say it infringes on their native rights.

The oceanarium resort is slated to be built on a 33-hectare site on Mabul island, located just next to Sipadan, which is famous for its coral reefs, teeming sea life and crystal clear waters.

Reports said plans for the resort, touted as 'a marine habitat wonder', include fake sea grass and other devices to attract fish, as well as the construction of swimming pools and more than 200 bungalows and villas.

Environmentalists have criticised the plan, which will require tonnes of construction materials to be brought in by barges, saying it could destroy the island's marine life and degrade the corals off nearby Sipadan.

Sabah Environmental Protection Association president Wong Teck said there were fears of a repeat of a 2006 accident on Sipadan when a construction barge ran aground, destroying a coral reef patch the size of three tennis courts.

'Mabul has an extremely sensitive marine ecology and the plan for a new oceanarium is certain to affect the environment there badly,' he said.

'An increase in the number of people staying on the island as a result of the resort and the amount of waste created, in addition to the construction work right on the coral and shallows, are almost certain to destroy much of it.'

'It is definitely not environmentally sustainable and the whole idea of an oceanarium seems quite strange given that people can already see all the fish and sealife in the pristine clear waters without the need for such a facility.'

Bajau villager Fung Haji Sappari also opposed the project, telling the Star newspaper that his people have had customary rights over the land as they have been using the area for fishing, transport and passage for hundreds of years.

'How can they do it? Several years ago I also applied for 15 acres around the same spot. It was not approved,' he told the daily.

Fung said more than 2,000 villagers on the island feared being moved out once the project was complete as the local land office considered them to be squatters.

The Star quoted officials as saying the state cabinet had approved the resort on condition that the project managers would conserve and repair the coral reefs.

However, it said the developers would have to get approval for the project's environmental impact assessment before they can begin work.

Concerns over environmental damage on Sipadan prompted the closure of five dive resorts on the island in 2005, and most visitors now stay on Mabul and travel to the Sipadan reefs by boat. -- AFP

It's a bit of a disaster-in-waiting, what with greedy politicians and cronyism still running rife. There's also a Facebook cause for anyone interested in signing up. Click here for the Facebook link.

Having just returned from Sipadan / Mabul, I think this would be a disaster for all the reasons stated above. One does not have to look very far to see the mess more man made structures of any kind will bring to Mabul. Just a few hundred yards from Sipadan water village, is the old oil rig that has been turned into a dive hotel / platform. The area under the platform, though great for muck diving, is otherwise a dirty mess. Already diving is restricted at Sipadan itself, so somehow building more hotels to bring more people to the area seems absurd.

Well, as of this month, none of the current resort operators on Mabul have had their licenses approved for renewal.

The word on the street it that high level politicians are behind this as some kind of retirement plan, with a key factor being that the proposed resort would 'own' the rights to bring divers over to Sipadan.

There are simply too many conflicting reasons for this to work out.

And to think that Sipadan is so aggressively marketed and there are more and more disappointed divers being turned back everyday, given the 120 diver/day restriction, and an opaque system of allocations.

Well, the talk was there was always "someone" who wanted to monopolize the Sipadan island, first by removing the operations on the islands (which in truth were way too many) and then build on it after a few years quietly. After the controversy of the cement barge, international attention made it impossible to proceed so this new plan has been in the works. It's great when tourism can protect an area, but it can also push it to earlier destruction.

It's amazing in just 16 short years, this wonderful diving area has become such a mess.

Hi all,

I'm just coming back from Mabul/Sipadan too, and I am disgusted by what corruption and greediness are planning for this amazing spot of the world..

I understand that the economic and political interests behind this devastating plan are immense, but it's many of us thinking that Mabul should be preserved and no oceanarium ever built.

If you are not already aware of this, a cause was posted on the Facebook account of the Project AWARE Foundation and was already joined by 4,367 members. This can be found at

http://apps.facebook.com/causes/152265/52420811?m=6d54c0aa

If you have not done this already, please join.

I am aware that this might not go too far. But I strongly believe that boycotting could be a key of imposing on Sabah authorities a careful re-thinking on the oceanarium plan. If divers and tourists would make clear that they do not intend to visit the oceanarium, but are only attracted by the natural beauty of Mabul, there might be a chance that the plan can be stopped. It's only about money, isnt'it? ;-)

I am evaluating with friends and helpers the opportunity to post an online petition on divers and travellers forums, eg. the Lonely Planet. A student of suistanable development has granted me that the political impact of the opinions expressed on the Lonely Planet's website is huge.

Any suggestion or contribution to this project is greatly appreciated!!

Monica

Hi all,

Well, first off, what you're talking here is my home turf ....therefore I feel strongly about it. And the fact that I'm studying marine biology means that I felt doubly strong about this nonsense.

Nevertheless, I have been involved in many a project to try and stop insane developments such as this one to know that, petition is good but will always fall on deaf ears....that the powers-that-be will always think that the reef will recover, the people will recover, the tourists will recover from the aftershocks and damages to be incurred.

From my experience here, the way to do it is to have experts coming in and conduct rapid surveys to demote the EIA documents and also make it public.

So, if people here in wetpixels are really concern, try and help bring in experts like Charlie Veron, Carden Wallace, Gerry Allen, David Obura, and many other world reknown experts to conduct rapid-surveys on all the biological, physiological, sociological etc.... aspects and to ask them to publish it online/live-daily on their progress and discoveries so no political bullshitters (apologies to all for the unappropriate words I'm using here) can intervene/hide their findings. I know Dr. Elizabeth Wood and her people has been active in that part of Malaysia for decades, so she could be of asset to the team of international experts.

Then you get the United Nation Environment Program/United Nation Development Program etc... to come in strong to lobby against this senseless destruction.

For your information, I found out from friends studying in Sabah (the state where Sipadan and Mabul is situated) that the oceanarium is only the tip of the iceberg. There will be land reclamation on the shallows of Mabul to cater for the resort. Imagine this, the current beach front resorts will be the center of the island once the project ends. How about that for land reclamation? Also, the EIA whose water quality/modelling was done by an international EIA company called DHI (I was told by friends over there in Sabah) stated that the construction/reclamation will not affect the massive area of seagrass bed found in Mabul. We may be a third world country, but come on......we no longer live on a bloody tree! Who are they trying to kid?

Phew....that's the longest I've written in this forum ever. So, any other ideas anybody?

Cheers,

Barttrigger. ;(

Hi Barrtrigger,

First of all I would like to tell you how sorry I am for what's happening to your place...:-(

Second, I can see from your reply that you are very well informed on this subject, so maybe you can help me.

Do you know which companies are part of the joint venture which is running the project? Or do you know at least from which country the capitals are coming from?

Also, I cannot find any news on the web with a more recent date than November 2008.

Do you know what happened after? Has the final ok been given by Sabah's authorities? Do you know at what stage is the project now?

All this information are very important if we are to write a credible petition. I will be very thankful to anyone who is able to provide them to me!

I am concerned! I loved Mabul as very few other places in the world...

Cheers,

Monica

Hi Barrtrigger,

 

First of all I would like to tell you how sorry I am for what's happening to your place...:-(

 

Second, I can see from your reply that you are very well informed on this subject, so maybe you can help me.

 

Do you know which companies are part of the joint venture which is running the project? Or do you know at least from which country the capitals are coming from?

 

Also, I cannot find any news on the web with a more recent date than November 2008.

 

Do you know what happened after? Has the final ok been given by Sabah's authorities? Do you know at what stage is the project now?

 

All this information are very important if we are to write a credible petition. I will be very thankful to anyone who is able to provide them to me!

 

I am concerned! I loved Mabul as very few other places in the world...

 

Cheers,

 

Monica

Hi Monica,

Thanks a lot for your concern. I'm not sure of the company (s) involved in financing the project, but I will email my fellow mates over in Sabah. What I know right now is that the Sabah government is looking at the EIA before giving the final go. Am not surprised if they have started the ball rolling while waiting for the approval anyway. It's been done that way before. Did you see anything in that light while you were there?

Will keep you updated when I get some news.

Cheers,

Barttrigger

Having just returned from Sipadan / Mabul, I think this would be a disaster for all the reasons stated above. One does not have to look very far to see the mess more man made structures of any kind will bring to Mabul. Just a few hundred yards from Sipadan water village, is the old oil rig that has been turned into a dive hotel / platform. The area under the platform, though great for muck diving, is otherwise a dirty mess. Already diving is restricted at Sipadan itself, so somehow building more hotels to bring more people to the area seems absurd.

Hi loftus,

I know what u meant by the rig. It is ugly from the outside, but to be fair to them, they do provide an interesting experience for diving. I mean, being lowered down via lift to waters edge and then you just take the plunge, then at the end of the dive, they'll lower the lift about 1m underwater so that you can just swim onto the lift then they'll lift you up, now that's an experience. Comfortable rooms, with wifi available. Plus the price is quite competitive for the budget concious.....and no, I don't work for them, nor have any relations at all with them. I just happened to be lucky enough to follow marine park officers in visiting that place and experience what services they have to offer.

Granted that there are so many garbage down there....but I just found out that the authority can't do anything about it despite the area being a marine park etc because the owner of the rig actually bought the entire seabed area where the rig is and it legally belongs to him/them. I got to know this 3 days ago.

The point is, with this new project coming along, I'm sure they'll be as badly affected as those on Mabul itself, as the land reclamation will take place on most of the shallow reef flats of Mabul.

Cheers,

Barttrigger

Hi Bartrigger,

Thanks so much for your reply and for checking this out! :-)

I have personally not seen anything, but two persons who where there with me saw three metal cages full of concrete blocks, apparently for fish feeding. So, I am afraid you are right!

But the funny thing is that one of them told me there was no fish around the cages...just three ugly, useless metal cages full of concrete blocks nearby a lovely reef full of amazing marine life!

As far as the possibility to involve eminent marine scientists, this sounds like a great idea to me, but to get in contact with them does not seem so easy, at least if you have no access to the right channels.

Maybe we can post our comments on the webistes they write on or are likely to visit and try to catch their attention.

Any other idea anyone?

Cheers,

Monica

Hi loftus,

 

I know what u meant by the rig. It is ugly from the outside, but to be fair to them, they do provide an interesting experience for diving. I mean, being lowered down via lift to waters edge and then you just take the plunge, then at the end of the dive, they'll lower the lift about 1m underwater so that you can just swim onto the lift then they'll lift you up, now that's an experience. Comfortable rooms, with wifi available. Plus the price is quite competitive for the budget concious.....and no, I don't work for them, nor have any relations at all with them. I just happened to be lucky enough to follow marine park officers in visiting that place and experience what services they have to offer.

I just wanted to make the point that adding more stuff is probably a bad idea. As I understand it, the rig was there before so it makes sense to convert it to a hotel. From a limited diver's perspective, the area under the rig is also a great muck dive, just one would not want to see the junk and garbage extended any further. On two of our dives there, somebody actually dumped something from the rig and there was some giggling to see Mauricio Handler, our fearless leader, swimming through some 'brown' stuff, source unknown.

I just wanted to make the point that adding more stuff is probably a bad idea. As I understand it, the rig was there before so it makes sense to convert it to a hotel. From a limited diver's perspective, the area under the rig is also a great muck dive, just one would not want to see the junk and garbage extended any further. On two of our dives there, somebody actually dumped something from the rig and there was some giggling to see Mauricio Handler, our fearless leader, swimming through some 'brown' stuff, source unknown.

Ooohh.....so he went thru the "muck"? Indeed he is fearless... LOL

Having seen the same kind of "muck" during my dives there, I understand completely what you meant.

Well, the area under the rig may be a swimming (cess?) pool or pond when they have completed the project. Who knows?

Cheers,

Barttrigger

I think the new Oceanarium planned has a planned capacity of 200 rooms. The permits will remain at 120. What confounds me is that the number of rooms in Mabul are already over 200 with the 4 big resorts and 10 home stays. I can't think of why they'd want to build more rooms on Mabul, even with an oceanarium for entertainment, because they couldn't possibly advertise sipadan diving without guests wanting their money back.

I can't think of why they'd want to build more rooms on Mabul, even with an oceanarium for entertainment, because they couldn't possibly advertise sipadan diving without guests wanting their money back.

Most probably because there will be a change in the number of permits allocated every day. And, as far as I have heard, the ocenarium will get it´s share!

/Bent C.

Bent

The Oceanarium site is under EIA right now. It is not approved yet. Of course it's better to protest now than later.

I cannot guarantee what I am saying is how everything will end up, but I can tell you this is what the local operators believe. For the current government, permitting the new resort is a formality. The owners are too connected into the Sabah government. The only way to keep the new resort from being built is to keep it stalled until after the next election, when the current Sabah government is likely to be voted out. The local operators who currently control the 120 permits per day belive that they will continue to share 120 permits per day and the new resort will get 200 permits per day. This information was conveyed to me by a local operator who has eight permits per day. He said this to me immediately after he came back from a meeting of permit holders that they had in Kota Kinabalu to strategize about the new resort in November '08.

Bent

The Oceanarium site is under EIA right now. It is not approved yet. Of course it's better to protest now than later.

I did not in any way implicate anything else, I see no reason whatsoever for the new project to be built. My comment was just an answer to the question "why build more rooms?", where I believe (and have heard from several operators), just as "Gravity" writes, that there will be additional permits for the new resort.

Having been to the area during the last ten years more or less annually, I was somewhat surprised over the number of permits that was decided on. Is there anyone that knows how the magic number 120 divers a day was calculated?

/Bent

Sabah Parks is already considering an additional 120 permits for the "afternoon" session, to be spread amongst existing dive ops.

There have been other coral reef destruction in Malaysia in protected areas even. I remember there was a marina in P. Tioman which flattened beds of coral. When caught, there was 6 months of mea culpa, then construction continued. It is difficult, as foreigners, to tell Malaysians how to manage their own space. They will have to deal with their political and cultural issues. The best we can do is vote with our wallets and dive in places that do good conservation and avoid the places which don't. However, for every one person willing to do that, 1000 will happily go on without consideration.

I'm appalled to hear of this "planned" development. I've been living here in Malaysia for a year and the ugly as the truth is -the place lives on graft - corruption - money politics - call it what you will. Writing this could land me in trouble, but even the new PM Najib at the recent UMNO conference spoke up about the need to rid the country of "money politics", a euphemism if ever there was one.

I would venture that it really doesn't matter who or what gets said, you need to follow the money. Understand who will benefit financially from the development and work backwards. The funding has to come from somewhere and someone has the plans to build this..and someone in the Sabah government will sponsor and support it...be sure of that...

It would be good to write directly to the PM at this early stage of his incumbency..stopping this development would tick a number of boxes - most international and probably very few local - I mean how do you explain to the local populace that enticing another few hundred rich foreigners every week to swim around and drink beer will ahrm the economy - Malaysia needs jobs and income and there is precious little long-term planning - therefore politcially it may not be worth it for him, unless UNEP etc put some pressure on to stop the development.

Damn..just when I was enjoying living here I'll get myself thrown in jail or kicked out...

pxguru

They'll just charge you for sodomy and kick you out.

Actually I have to say that it is actually human to do the wink wink,nudge nudge. I mean even in US politics there's this sort of BS going on. They just get caught once more often. I think we'd be pretty naive to assume the west is any better. Still, as long as there is public pressure, they have to watch themselves from going too far. It's best to let the Malaysians themselves lead the way and the international population support them. This way they can't play the "Soros" card.