KOTA KINABALU: Boulders the size of a lorry sitting on precarious positions on the trail and edges of the mountain remain the biggest hurdle in the efforts to restore a route safe enough for climbers to make their way up Mount Kinabalu.
“There are challenging issues to overcome in order to start surveying a new route up the mountain. There had been a total wreckage of what used to be a trail, for example, between kilometre 6.3 to 6.8. Boulders and rocks the size of a lorry are on the trail. You can’t simply roll them down,” said Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun.
Speaking to reporters after chairing a press conference at Menara Tun Fuad Stephens, Karamunsing here yesterday, Masidi said that finding an alternative route is not as big a challenge as to ensuring the safety of climbers, not knowing whether or not more aftershocks will cause the boulders and rocks to roll down, potentially harming anything along its path.
Masidi also told the public not to be surprised if the aftershocks continue to happen beyond a month after the 5.9 magnitude earthquake hit Mount Kinabalu on June 5.
“We can only start to do surveying works of new trail after the aftershocks have stopped. But the problem now is that it is not over yet. As of yesterday at 5.10 pm there was another aftershock of a 2.9 magnitude.
“But of course this is not surprising; in Nepal, the aftershocks continued to happen beyond two months, recording as many as 304 aftershocks as of June 7, since the earthquake on April 25,” said Masidi.
“If it is of any consolation, Kinabalu is not volcanic. Despite some rumours, we have been assured by experts, including those who briefed us yesterday, that Kinabalu is not volcanic,” he added.
Although restoring works can only begin after the aftershocks have stopped, Masidi said, a committee dedicated to restoring the condition on Mount Kinabalu had held its first meeting yesterday.
There are two parts to the committee, he added, one to handle the coordination and other related matters, chaired by the Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Musa Aman, and another to handle the implementation of rehabilatation programme, chaired by Masidi himself.
The meeting yesterday saw the main committee being briefed on the current situation by the directors of Sabah Parks, Department of Geoscience and Mineral, Public Works Department, and Dr. Felix Tongkul from Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS).
“We also discussed several issues, including the total damage caused by the disasters starting with the earthquake, followed by the recent mud flood.
“All the heads of the various departments will analyse the contents of the briefing yesterday that are related to their department and will report back in the next meeting.
“The Drainage and Irrigation Department, for example, will analyse the impact of the flood on the water ways. The Agriculture Department will analyse not only the change of some of the water course as a result of the landslide on the paddy fields in Kota Belud, but also the livehood of the farmers in Kundasang and Ranau,” Masidi explained.
Masidi also urged the relevant departments to take proactive measures in foreseeing possible challenges in the future, brought about as aftermath of the earthquake.
“It might look like it was just an earthquake. But it had trigerred many potential problems in the future. Some of the concerns include, whether or not the volume of our river water had decreased due to the wiped-out vegetation on Mount Kinabalu. I’m not saying that this is what is happening now but this, along with many other potential problems like changed water or river courses, water ways for agriculture, are the possibilities that we need to take into consideration for long-term planning,” he said.
Sabahans also, he added, need to accept the fact that the “face of Mount Kinabalu has changed. Some probably temporary, some could be permanent, among them is the loss of one of our Donkey’s Ears.”
Nonetheless, various parties are stepping in to offer help in the effort to restore Kinabalu. Masidi disclosed that Sabah Parks had also been given the offer by expert mountaineers from outside, who offered their comments and services to help.
“It’s not so much about the business part of it. Business because there are locals whose lives depended on Kinabalu for their livelihood. That is important. But it’s not more important than the safety of the climbers. Overall consideration is still the safety of the climbers,” said Masidi.