at gunpoint 21 people from a holiday resort on the Malaysian island of Sipadan in Sabah. The hostages

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is trying to get airline companies from Singapore to expand their flights to its Sandakan and Tawau districts. State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Jafry Ariffin said direct flights from Singapore to these two districts would boost tourism and other economic relations in future. ALSO READ: Tourism players propose direct Singapore-Sandakan flights He said this during a meeting in Singapore with its Senior Minister of State for National Development and Foreign

KOTA KINABALU: Local Bajau-Ubian villagers of Pulau Mantanani will be roped in to become divemasters for the island, whose coral reefs often face threats from fish bombing activities.A diving promotion group, Travel Box Sabah, is working with resort operator Sutera@ Mantanani to promote Mantanani diving site as a local attraction as well as help young local villagers become divemasters. Travel Box operational manager-cum-dive master Dean Lee said that fish bombing activities were usually done ou

KOTA KINABALU: A Liberal Democratic Party( LDP) leader on Monday( Aug 7) is urging Sabah to use green energy sources instead of coal to generate electricity. LDP vice-president Sim Fui said this in response to Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd( SESB) chairman Datuk Seri Dr Wilfred Madius Tangau’s statement last week that coal is the cheapest option for power generation. Sim said while Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak uses coal for energy, he said such facilities were set up over 10 years ago and question

KOTA KINABALU: A Liberal Democratic Party( LDP) leader on Monday( Aug 7) is urging Sabah to use green energy sources instead of coal to generate electricity. LDP vice-president Sim Fui said this in response to Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd( SESB) chairman Datuk Seri Dr Wilfred Madius Tangau’s statement last week that coal is the cheapest option for power generation. Sim said while Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak uses coal for energy, he said such facilities were set up over 10 years ago and question

KOTA KINABALU: Conservationists in Sabah are calling for an investigation and action to be taken against the alleged sales of protected shark species in a seafood restaurant in the city.Dr Nick Pilcher, founder and executive director of the Marine Research Foundation claimed sharks were being kept in tanks for the purpose of consumption, including a Zebra shark( Stegosoma tigrinum) and Napoleon wrasse.He said the Zebra shark, also known as the Leopard shark, was a very rare species and should be

KOTA KINABALU: A six-month grace period will be given to the public after the announcement on the new rates for the entry to Sabah Parks facilities. State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Jafry Ariffin said while the increased fees were expected to be unburdensome, the transition time would give the public some adjustment before the new rates were imposed. The new rates are still in the process of being gazetted by the state Attorney General, said Jafry, but he did not state when

SEMPORNA: Keeping Semporna islands clean should also be the responsibility of the tour operators and not the local council alone, says Reef Check Malaysia( Sabah). Its operation manager Adzmin Matta said since the islands do not have any waste management system, tour operators should also assume the responsibility of keeping the islands clean.“ People come to Semporna because of the beauty of the islands and crystal clear water, so if we want to keep it that way, tour operators must play their p

KOTA KINABALU: An investigation has been ordered into a coral reef damaged by a barge ferrying building materials for a forward base at a popular dive site at Pulau Mabul in Sabah's east coast Semporna. Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Jafry Ariffin said that the state's Environmental Protection Department( EPD) has been ordered to carry out the probe though the area did not come under the marine parks protection of Sabah Parks.“ The EPD will look into this thoroughly to est

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah will table a motion to reject any territorial claims by the Philippines and self-claimed heirs of the defunct Sulu Sultanate at the next state assembly meeting, if necessary.“ I would like to reiterate that the state government has never recognised and will not recognise any claims of the Sulu Sultanate on Sabah, ” said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.“ The people of Sabah had already made their decision to be part of the new federation of Malaysia( 1963) that was endo