SABAH TODAY

BY SABAHTODAY REPORTERS
KOTA KINABALU: The revival of the controversial Tanjung Aru Eco Development (TAED) project comes as a shock, especially as the public was never consulted or engaged.

Tanjung Aru Assemblyman, Datuk Junz Wong said there are many unanswered questions and more concerns from the stakeholders.

“The environmentalists have their concerns, residents in Tanjung Aru have their concerns, traffic congestion is a concern, public ownership of the beach is a concern. So many concerns,” he said.

Junz said while he is not against development, it must not be at the expense of public and environmental interests.

As such he said the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) State Government has been told to come clean, before reviving the controversial .

This comes following Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor’s sudden announcement on Monday, in which he stated that a Chinese company has shown interest in developing the controversial project.

“After only one courtesy call by these foreign investors, the Chief Minister announced that the controversial project will be revived,” he said.

“This is shocking. GRS never consulted the public. There are no details, but more confusion and questions.”

“Let me be unequivocally clear. I am not against development. Developments brings economic benefits, but it also brings along negative impacts.”

Junz said public consultations must be held, in order for the pros and cons be weighed, and concerns be addressed.”

Junz added that unlike BN, the previous Warisan administration put to a halt the TAED project between 2018 to 2020, pending the fulfillment of certain requirements in order to safeguard the interests of Sabahans.

“If you recall, TAED was started by the Barisan Nasional administration. Despite public protests and objections, the initial approvals were bulldozed through.”

“After BN’s collapse in 2018, the project was put to a halt by Warisan.”

“For more than two years, TAED was a no go.”

“The reason was simple.”

“Warisan is all for development. But pre-requisites and requirements were set, in order to protect and safeguard Sabahans’ rights and interests.”

“For example, public ownership of the beach cannot be compromised.”

“The public must be able to continue to enjoy the use of the beach as a public space.”

Junz added that during the Warisan era, most developers who were keen on the project wanted ownership of the beach. They also wanted to use foreign labour and wanted a government guarantee.”

“All these, in Warisan’s opinion, do not bring benefit to Sabahans. It may even bring more disadvantages to Sabahans.

“So the project was not revived,” he pointed out.