NGO: Tell us status of beachfront project
KOTA KINABALU: A nongovernmental group wants Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal to declare the status of a controversial ecodevelopment project at a popular beachfront, which has apparently been scrapped.
Save Our Open Spaces spokesman S.M. Muthu said state Agriculture and Food Industries Minister Junz Wong had assured them that the Tanjung Aru Eco Development (TAED) project had been scrapped.
“We have been trying to get TAED to stop their plans for the reclama tion of the beach, which was supposed to be turned into some highclass residential and hotel area.
“But now that Wong has announced that TAED would not be proceeding, and that the beach would be returned to City Hall, this is a major breakthrough,” he told reporters here yesterday.
However, many people were still concerned about the project as the Chief Minister had not made an announcement, said Muthu.
“We hope the Chief Minister can put our concerns to rest,” he said, urging the state government to investigate how the project was allowed to proceed in the first place.
City Hall staff have been cleaning the beach daily over the past week after the site, which was taken over by TAED, was left in a mess when buildings and structures were torn down to make way for the reclamation which was supposed to have started in April last year.
The project, covering some 340ha, was to have seven hotels with 1,800 rooms, 5,000 apartment and condominium units, marinas and entertainment venues as well as a 133ha golf course.
All the beach needed, said Muthu, was proper maintenance and upgrading of the amenities, including toilets, a playground and recreational facilities such as barbecue pits and cycling tracks.