Don’t touch the Lost World, says Sabah Umno chief

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah should not even think of revisiting the idea of mining coal in the totally protected Maliau Basin, known internationally as the Lost World, says the state Umno chief.

Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said in a statement that the Warisan-led state government’s willingness to revisit the plan to use coal as a source of energy was outrageous.

“Any caring Sabahan would ensure that the Maliau Basin is not de-gazetted in the name of progress,” he said.

Hajiji said Maliau was gazetted as a First Class Forest reserve to be kept pristine for future generations.

“It was also to help minimise global warming brought about by carbon footprints in particular,” he said.

With land being a state matter, he added, Sabah must be firm with Putrajaya on coal mining.

Hajiji was responding to the possibility of using coal from Sabah and Sarawak to meet the nation’s energy needs.

The idea of using local coal was mooted by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“Environmentalists fighting for a cleaner, greener and healthier Sabah will not allow the Maliau Basin to be ripped apart for timber and coal.

“There is speculation that the Lost World also has deposits of gold and other precious metals,” Hajiji added.

Hajiji, who was a state minister under the previous Barisan Nasional administration, said the previous government had put in place global policies and initiatives on forest conservation over the last 15 years.

He said the banning of log exports by Warisan did not amount to conservation.

“Sabah must grow and enrich its forests with a variety of timber species. It would be most regrettable if we leave tracts of barren land to future generations,” he said.

Hajiji said the Barisan government took a major step towards conservation when logging was phased out in Ulu Segama, Malua and Kalumpang in east coast Sabah.

He said though the state lost some RM1bil in revenue from the move, it helped revive degraded forests after 60 years of continuous logging.

“All these areas have the largest orangutan population, as well as other wildlife in Sabah,” he added.