Sebatik Island

UMS station at Sebatik soon to facilitate studies

Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) will set up a base station at Sebatik Island to facilitate studies on sea mammals in the surrounding waters here.

The station will be under the supervision of the UMS Marine Biology Centre.

An inaugural scientific expedition to Sebatik Island jointly organised by UMS and Sabah Parks, in collaboration with the Sebatik Assemblyman's Office, on carried out in February 2007

Sebatik Island is mostly uncharted in terms of many educational aspects, therefore, UMS decided to conduct the expedition similar to other coastal areas in Sabah, he said.

He said the expedition was also due to the Sebatik Assemblyman, Datuk Dr Patawari Patawe's persistence in inviting UMS to the island with the prime intention of conducting detailed studies from various aspects to uplift the people's socio-economy standard there.

On the expedition, Prof Mohd Noh said initial findings on studies conducted at the mangrove swamp areas found it to be thriving with crocodiles besides sea mammals.

Earlier, Prof Mohd Noh, who brought the entire deans of UMS for the expedition where they stayed on the island for several nights, hoped the people in Sebatik would render full cooperation to any UMS research team in the future.

Apart from the proposed centre for sea mammals, he has also discussed with a Federal Deputy Minister on the possibility of establishing a healthcare study centre on the island, especially with the imbalance between Sebatik Malaysia that has an estimated 25,000 population, against 80,000 on the Sebatik Indonesian side.

UMS is also playing its role to promote education among the rural folk by conducting programmes like the "Selangkah Ke Menara Gading" (One Step Towards the Higher Learning Institution), he said.

In this respect, Prof Mohd Noh extended an invitation to the parents, especially mothers and their children to visit the UMS under the programme where they would see for themselves the condition and rewards that lie ahead should their children succeed in their studies.

Bee-keeping project

A bee-keeping project will be implemented in Pulau Sebatik, off the east coast of Sabah, for the benefit of the residents who are mostly poor.

Sebatik Assemblyman Datuk Dr Haji Patawari Haji Patawe said the honey-producing project would be carried out with the co-operation of the Koperasi Pembangunan Desa (KPD), a State Government agency.

He said the project would apply the bee-keeping concept adopted in three northern districts of Sabah, namely Kota Marudu, Kudat and Pitas, which had been involved in the activity for 10 years.

"We want to introduce the project in Pulau Sebatik because it has proven to have raised the social status of the people involved in the activity in Kota Marudu, Kudat and Pitas.

"I was informed that the income of the participants in the three districts is now around RM2,000 a month. This is lucrative," he said.

Pulau Sebatik is located near the border with East Kalimantan. The majority of the people are farmers and fishermen.

To raise the social status of the residents, a salted fish project was implemented, along with the introduction of modern fishing technology.

Dr Patawari said two officers from the co-operative would come to Pulau Sebatik on July 8 to carry out a study on the proposed project and prepare a comprehensive report.

He said in the initial stage, the pilot project would involve a certain number of residents and, if successful, it would be expanded to involve more of the residents.

"The project will be implemented on contract with the beekeepers whereby the co-operative will provide them advice and purchase the honey they produce," he said.- Bernama

Greater development is expected under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP) in Sebatik Malaysia

Sebatik Assemblyman

Sebatik Assemblyman, Datuk Dr Patawari Patawe, hopes that the proposed border town and Customs checkpoint at Tanjung Arang on the island would materialize during the 9MP period.

Dr Patawari who is also Chairman of State investment arm, Warisan Harta Sabah Sdn Bhd

The establishment of both are currently being studied by a special committee under the Local Government and Housing Ministry, he said.

Sebatik Malaysia is currently lagging behind even when compared to the Indonesian side of the island.

Tanjung Arang

Tanjung Arang is strategically located to do border trading and being the closest point to Indonesia's Nunukan Island in the south, which is visible from the proposed border town.

The setting up of the border town in Tanjung Arang, the economic development in Sebatik would be spurred.

Tanjung Arang to be developed by a government-linked company.

Proposed facilities for Sebatik Island

Among the proposed facilities were:

1) Health clinic

2) Community college

3) A fully-residential school

4) Water Treatment plant project

5) Poposed Wallace Bay resettlement scheme

6) Kampung Bergosong police station.

Abdul Aziz said four areas would be given emphasis in Sarawak, namely the districts of Julau, Mukah, Asajaya and BaKelalan, while in Sabah the areas are Tawau, Pulau Sebatik, Pulau Bumbum and Telupid in the East Coast.