KK promises an eco-friendly waterfront project

OVER the last few decades the narrow shoreline of the once serene coastal town of Kota Kinabalu (KK) has changed.

What KK was, in the 1950s or 1960s, is now almost unrecognisable to those who grew up close to it.

It has rapidly changed its face over the last three decades with most of the city centre built on reclaimed land.

Today, Kota Kinabalu City Hall is striving to strike a balance in preserving its old environment, while pushing for development to make the city a world-class leisure and tourism spot, in line with the objectives of the Sabah Development Corridor (SDC).

This rainforest city of over 300,000 people will play the leading role as the gateway to Sabah, which aims to be one of the most liveable places in Asia.

For city planners it is also crucial that the city is ready to impress and help the state woo some RM105bil in development projects for investments under the SDC’s 18-year overall economic development plan.

Environmentalist, however, are worried about pushing Kota Kinabalu's shoreline further into the sea as they believe further changes would bring irreparable consequences to city’s very own treasure.

Their concern is on the proposed Kota Kinabalu waterfront project that offers to transform Kota Kinabalu into an integrated mixed development along a section of the Kota Kinabalu town’s coastline.

The Kota Kinabalu City Waterfront, expected to be completed by 2010, will feature the key attraction of a 2km long boardwalk, built using eco-friendly materials rising above the sea on stilts.

Waterfront Urban Development Sdn Bhd (WUD) is carrying out the entire project in collaboration with Kota Kinabalu City (DBKK).

The project is among those identified under the SDC that aims to make Sabah a major destination for both leisure and business tourism and has also caught the attention of Kuwait Finance House (Malaysia) Bhd (KFHMB) and a consortium of Middle Eastern and Malaysian investors.

At the launch of the SDC, a tripartite agreement was signed between WUD, KFH and Intonasi Intan Sdn Bhd witnessed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi

WUD managing director Reymee Mohamed Hussein said the development would incorporate environmentally friendly features like hi-tech LED lighting, energy conserving air conditioning systems and solar powered pedestrian lighting along the boardwalk.

Reymee, together with Geoffrey P.J. Lee, conceptualised the Kota Kinabalu City Waterfront development masterplan with DBKK.

He gave the assurance that there would be no reclamation work.

“It is primarily to increase the role of a coastal city like Kota Kinabalu to become a catalystfor the modernisation and development in Sabah,” said Reymee, adding that the RM500mil project was conceptualised after studying several thriving world class international waterfront attractions like Darling Harbour (Australia), Cape Town Waterfront (South Africa), Victoria Harbour (Hong Kong), Canary Wharf (London) and Clark Quay Riverside (Singapore).

The development will also spur economic growth for Kota Kinabalu and provide employment and new business opportunities to local residents and businesses.

“Kota Kinabalu City Waterfront will feature one of the longest city waterfront boardwalks in Asia and is poised to become the city’s prime tourist attraction. It will be an integral part of Sabah’s hospitality industry,” Reymee said.

Sabah Environment Protection Association president Datuk Sue Jayasuriya said there was a need to ensure that any development did not turn the rainforest city into a concrete jungle. - The Star Online - 05 February 08

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Launch of corridor heralds new era for Sabah

KOTA KINABALU: A total of RM105bil in investments, 900,000 jobs, a waterfront city, tourism projects and a RM600mil new Sabah Railway terminal – these are among the things Sabahans will get when the Sabah Development Corridor (SDC) is completed in 18 years.

In addition, Gross Domestic Product will be up to RM63bil and an annual per capita income will hit RM14,800.

Ambitious plans: Abdullah and his wife Jeanne taking a closer look at models of buildings planned for the waterfront city project during the SDC launch in Kota Kinabalu yesterday.

As an immediate measure, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced an extra RM5bil allocation under the Ninth Malaysia Plan to improve infrastructure and to reduce the cost of doing business in the state.

And minutes after Abdullah launched the SDC, 13 MoUs were signed involving international companies from China, the United States and Japan for various projects worth RM16bil.

These developments include housing, condominiums, hotels, the waterfront city, ports, tourism projects and the railway terminal at Tanjung Aru.

The Prime Minister said the SDC was to transform Sabah into an environmentally conscious and modern state and gave an assurance that every aspect of the corridor development would benefit all Sabahans.

“Today we see the Land Below the Wind take a quantum leap to be developed and be prosperous,” he said to applause from the crowd at Sapangar Container Port here yesterday.

He outlined five key thrusts of the SDC, which will be to:

> make Sabah the gateway for trade, investment and tourism in the region.

> transform the state into a harmonious and prosperous state regardless of race or religion.

> make the state more technology-savvy to ensure a better quality of life.

> provide job opportunities in the state.

> make Sabah a comfortable state to live in with good quality of life accentuated with diverse cultures, heritage and environment.

Abdullah said that with the realisation of the five key aspects, the face of Sabah would be totally changed under the plans which would not leave out any group or region in the state.

“This is not a daydream. We are not making an empty promise. There is no doubt there is a lot of challenges but we will ensure that the Sabah corridor will be a success,” he said.

Under the SDC, the state’s west coast would see an industrial sub-corridor and agro-food industry for small and medium enterprises. For the central and northern zones, there will be an agripolitan zone, tourism, highland agriculture and agro-forestry.

The east coast will have industries, marine tourism, integrated agro food industry, agro-biotechnology, and palm oil-based industry zones.

Abdullah said that the overall focus of the SDC was to promote Sabah’s inherent strengths that included its location, rich natural resources as well as cultural and biological diversity that can become high potential economic activity.

The sectors being promoted would be agriculture, tourism and logistics, services and manufacturing, he said.

He said they also hoped to bring in more tourists to the state by developing eco-tourism destinations like Sipadan, Danum Valley and Darvel Bay.

Abdullah said the federal government would liberalise the open skies policy for air travel to Sabah.-The Star Online - Wednesday January 30, 2008