Ministers seek to boost Sandakan tourism
SANDAKAN: The only mall in Sandakan, the Harbour Mall and one of the most exclusive hotels here, Four Points by Sheraton Hotel, have received official visitation by two state ministers — Stephen Wong Tien Fatt of Health and People’s Wellbeing and Frankie Poon Ming Fung of Youth and Sports.
According to Stephen, Sandakan is not doing well in tourism, with only a small percentage of tourists visiting Kota Kinabalu who came to Sandakan.
He said the hotels in Sandakan also have average 30 to 40 percent of occupancy rate, when in Kota Kinabalu, the hotels, especially the bigger ones, have 97 per cent of average occupancy rate.
“We are looking at a lot of areas to improve tourism industry in Sandakan, including creating a pedestrian night walk near Harbour Square (by the sea), as well as transforming Sandakan into a clean city, with helps the Sandakan Municipal Council (SMC) President, Datuk Peter Hii Chang Lik.
“Datuk Peter had also said that all buildings in Sandakan will be repainted, which will give Sandakan a fresh and more vibrant look.
“We (Health and People’s Wellbeing Ministry) have collaborated with SMC in ensuring that Sandakan could be changed into a clean city, starting from a joint Gotong Royong programme held with SMC last week.
“This is in line with Sandakan which is known as the ‘nature city’. We (in Sandakan) already have interesting historical and heritage sites; what is left for us is to attract the tourists here,” he said.
Wong also said that everyone in Sandakan has role to play in keeping Sandakan clean, and that the responsibility should not rest on SMC and people’s representatives only.
“I urge the locals to please preserve cleanliness. We want to give a good image to the tourists that Sandakan is a clean and beautiful place; that way they (tourists) will keep coming back,” he said.
Wong, who is also the Sandakan Member of Parliament, said that the Government was still looking for investors to invest in tourism sector in Sandakan, including Pulau Berhala that has the potential to become an attractive tourism spot.
Meanwhile, Datuk Thomas Lau Chi Keong, Consultant for Government Liaison and Public Affair who was present to welcome the ministers, said that it was the first time that Harbour Mall had received official visit from two state ministers at the same time.
Lau said that their visit was very meaningful to the locals, especially because it showed the commitment of the ministers in developing Sandakan.
“We are happy that the ministers are committed in developing Sandakan. They have openly stated that they want to restore the good name of Sandakan which was once known as the ‘Little Hong Kong’, and the locals wish to see development in Sandakan,” he added.
The official visit by the two ministers was also joined by Datuk Peter Hii represented by Peter Ampadu, Director of Finance and Development Unit of SMC; Four Points by Sheraton Hotel General Manager, Peter Padman as well as Harbour Mall Sandakan Centre Manager, Michael Chong.