Published on: Friday, March 24, 2006 |
Beluran: Bank and supermarkets are much needed facilities in Beluran, eastern Sabah, to better service the varied needs of the people as well as business players, says its Assistant District Officer (ADO) Rashid Abdul Harun.
Rashid, who has served the district as ADO since two years ago, said since the district has no bank branch and supermarket, the residents preferred to go to Kota Marudu, a neighbouring district in northern Sabah about 136km from Beluran town, for their needs.
"They prefer Kota Marudu because the prices of goods there are said to be cheaper than Sandakan and the neighbouring district town also has banking facility," he said when met here.
Rashid, who was previously served as ADO in Paitan, said after the completion of the new tarred road linking Nango-Paitan-Kota Marudu, it would be more economical for Beluran folks to go to Kota Marudu rather than travelling all the way to Sandakan.
As such, he said, both legal foreign and local estate workers preferred to spend the wages they received each month in the neighbouring district. He added that such a situation might affect the growth of Beluran and its surrounding areas in future.
The Beluran population is about 70,000, excluding the 25,000 estate workers, and Rashid said this huge potential customer base should be taken into account by both local and outside investors in establishing bank branches as well as opening supermarkets in the district.
"If the two facilities are available in Beluran, which I now view as a "sleepy town", I am convinced that the community here will turn to their own town to meet their daily needs. These two facilities too will regenerate business activities," he added.
Rashid, however, agreed that another contributing factor which has left the town "sleepy" were the big-scale operations to flush out illegal immigrants working in various economic sectors in the district by the authorities as well as less attention given by private investors.
According to him, the investors seemed only keen to invest in palm oil plantations rather than other business activities, and such a trend should be checked in the interest of the people.
His feelings are also shared by members of the public, including traders and boat operators yearning for a better future.
"There are not many customers anymore. Four years ago, it was easy to get RM100 a day. But now, we are very thankful if we manage to get RM40 to RM50 a day," said Jalina Mansi, 41, a food stall operator here.
Another food stall operator Latifah Mentiak, 30, said she was once able to earn about RM200 daily but today considered herself lucky "if I can get RM50 a day".
"Operating passenger boats is not a profitable venture anymore. I was once operating two passenger boats but now there's only one left to cut cost. Our service now is more of a social responsibility," said Cho Yang Ang, a passenger boat operator who ferry passengers from Beluran to Sabang and back.
Meanwhile, Rashid said Beluran could become an alternative tourist destination besides Sandakan, considering that the district also has several attractive tourist spots to deliver the goods.
Citing Pulau Langkayan, which is about two-hour journey by speedboat from Beluran as an example, Rashid said it provides a scenic view and has much to offer in scuba-diving activities.
"Another thing that I want to tell the people is that the number of proboscis monkeys in Labuk River of Beluran is much higher than what we found in Sukau," he said.
"There are seven spots where you can find the monkey species comprising 200 groups. We estimate that number of proboscis monkeys here is more than 1,000," he added.
Rashid also said people who come to Beluran could visit the 100 metre-high Bakong-Bakong Waterfall Recreation Park, an increasingly popular tourist attraction for the district. - Bernama
