Scuba divers, tour operators, tourism promoters and nature lovers in Sabah were
shocked to read about the world famous "Dropoff Point", just a stone's throw
from the Sipadan Island, was damaged by a huge barge carrying building materials
for construction works on the island. The "Dropoff Point" is not referring to
the jetty for dropping off visitors used by the boats and ferry, it is a rare
coral cliff which "drops off" suddenly to a sheer steep depth in the ocean bed.
Very few places in the world have such cliff in the ocean bed. There are also a
number of caves of varying sizes and depth, but all are abundance in rare and
unique marine life. Some of the caves are excellent training grounds for cave
scuba diving. The barge found resting on top the "Dropoff Points" scrapping off
all corals from the top of the "Dropoff Points". It is not yet clear whether the
fragile and thin ceilings of the caves mentioned above have collasped under the
weight of the barge. It is a real sad case, we are blessed with such a wonderful
gift from Mother nature, yet there are still people who will not see the
uniqueness of it all. They destroyed it for their own selfish gains. It was
learned that usually heavy vessels are not allowed near the island, only small
boats, called
kumpits, though small in size but are capable of carrying
heavy materials are allowed under tight control. How on earth that huge barge
(it was as tall as the building on the island as seen from the photo) got there
? Now everybody is pointing fingers at each other. But that is beside the point.
The point is the Sabah state government announced two years ago gallantly that
in order to preserve the eco-system around the island, all the 7 existing
resorts on the island had to be demolished, and
NO MORE structure of any kind is to be allowed on this island. The 7 said resorts
were subsequently demolished and relocated to the Mabul Island nearby. As one
politician from opposition party asked, "Why are there still construction
works going on in the island two years after?"
I like to hear the answer, I believe many people like to hear, too. The Chief
Minister of Sabah, Datuk Musa Hj Aman has declared that Sipadan Island will be
closed to prevent further damage and allow the island to regenerate. Is this a
move to punish the public who voiced their opinions? The people who caused the
damages should be punished not the tourists who did nothing wrong and who bring
revenues into the state. It may take hundreds of years for the coral reef to
regenerate, or may never regenerate into its past unique shape again. Even if it
will, are we supposed to wait for a few hundred years before allowing visitors
to go to the island again?
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