Liew
KOTA KINABALU: Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Christina Liew said efforts are ongoing to facilitate the return of Chinese tourists in Sabah back to China.
Liew, who is also the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, said her permanent secretary Dr Jamili Nais and Sabah Tourism Board (STB) chairman Ken Pan are working and assisting the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Kota Kinabalu to bring the China nationals home.
“There is no reason why we are not working together.
“We also sympathize with them, suddenly not being able to go home,” she told reporters at the Kota Kinabalu Journalists Association (KKJA) Chinese New Year luncheon here yesterday.
The Consulate General has urged the Sabah State Government to assume the main responsibility and formulate practical plans to coordinate flights and properly arrange the return of Chinese tourists stranded in Sabah due to the grounding of flights as soon as possible.
It stated that the Sabah Government had unilaterally announced the suspension of all flights from China.
“The number of flights between China and Sabah has been significantly reduced and grounded, which has caused thousands of Chinese tourists stranded in Sabah,” the consulate said in a statement yesterday.
After the Spring Festival holiday, the consulate said many students urgently need to return to school in China, and many tourists also have to go back to work.
“The Chinese Consulate receives hundreds of calls every day asking how to return to China, and the tourists are anxious.
“In this regard, we hope that the Sabah State Government will assume the main responsibility and formulate practical plans to coordinate flights and properly arrange the return of Chinese tourists stranded in Sabah due to the grounding of flights as soon as possible.”
Liew said STB had posted a notice calling all Chinese tourists who are still in Sabah to contact the Chinese consulate office.
The deputy chief minister said she also encountered many Chinese tourists on the same flight who were heading back to China while she was travelling from Tawau to Kota Kinabalu on Saturday.
She added that the Immigration Department director would inform her of the number of Chinese tourists still stranded in Sabah on Monday.
“Our focus right now is assisting Chinese visitors who are stranded in Sabah.
“For tourists who are healthy but wish to stay longer, we are willing to help them to extend their visa.
“For those that wish to go back, we will ask them to contact the consulate office,” said Liew who represented Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Mohd Shafie Apdal at the KKJA Chinese New Year luncheon here yesterday.
Shafie on Saturday had said that the Sabah government would continue to work with the China authorities to facilitate the return of their nationals to the republic.
He had also instructed Liew to continue engaging with the Chinese government via the necessary channels.
The State Government has temporarily suspended all flights from China to Sabah amid the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak.
On January 31, the Chinese government had sent a charter plane to Kota Kinabalu to bring their citizens from Hubei province who were in Sabah back to Wuhan city. A total of 123 Chinese nationals boarded the plane.
Meanwhile, Liew said the State Government would also look into bringing home Sabahans who are in China when required.
Nevertheless, she said Sabahans in China could actually return via other places such as Hong Kong or Macau.
“There is no issue for Malaysians or Sabahans to come back here.”
She said Sabahans who travelled back from china would have to go through screening to detect signs of the coronavirus and those who showed symptoms would have to be quarantined before they could return.
On another note, Liew said she would call for a meeting with tourism stakeholders next week to determine the next course of action in view of the impact on the coronavirus on the tourism industry.
“We do not know when the virus will subside. We hope it will subside as soon as possible and vaccine to materialize soon.
“Whatever it is, I think it is time for tourism players to look into different aspects, given that Chinese tourist arrivals to Sabah only consisted 40 per cent.
“Next week, I am calling a meeting with the stakeholders to see what we can do,” she said.