SANDAKAN: The State Government has decided that the proposed bridge project across the Kinabatangan River at Sukau will not be carried out.
The decision was announced by Datuk Sam Mannan, Chief Conservator of Forests, during his speech at the South East Asia Rainforest Research Partnership (SEARRP) dinner held at the Royal Society in London on Wednesday.
“In making this decision, the Chief Minister of Sabah (Datuk Seri Musa Aman) has taken into consideration all the concerns and opinions expressed related to the bridge, including those from Yayasan Sime Darby, Nestle, scientists and NGO groups, and also the opinion of someone who knows the territory better than anybody else – Sir David Attenborough,” Sam said in a statement, yesterday.
In early March, the Guardian UK published an article headlining Sir David Attenborough’s concerns over the proposed bridge that would span 350 metres across the Kinabatangan River, threatening one of the last sanctuaries of the rare Bornean pygmy elephant.
“If I may say so, that headline broke the camel’s back.
“It made us understand that the issue of a proposed bridge across a protected area for wildlife is now the number one environmental concern, not just in Sabah, but globally too, because of the extremely precarious situation of the rich wildlife therein.
“Now, I am pleased to say that balanced development has prevailed.
“We are not going ahead with the bridge,” he said.
Conservationists, including Atternborough, have expressed concern that the proposed RM223 million Sukau bridge project will affect the state’s pygmy elephant population. They have urged the state government to scrap the project as it will disrupt the movement of Borneo pygmy elephants between forests.
Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun also cautioned against jeopardising the state as an eco-tourism paradise by building the controversial bridge through its rainforest.
In his winding-up speech at the recent state legislative assembly sitting, Masidi said the government is reviewing the bridge that would be a shortcut for villagers in the remote Sukau area, as it also needed to consider wildlife conservation efforts for which Sabah has come under global scrutiny.
The bridge, under the Ninth Malaysia Plan, is expected to connect the western river bank to the Sukau village on the east and the road would connect Sukau to Litang and Tomanggong areas, in an effort to stimulate economic activities.