/// Cover Story
According to managing director of KR Synergy Group Kevin
Ratnasingam, “The interconnectedness between transport and
tourism is an important relationship within the wider tourism
system because it facilitates the movement of tourists between
their place of origin and their destinations.”
He added: “Transport acts as the means of movement within
a destination itself. Transport relies on the viability and
attractiveness of a destination, and a destination relies on
transport for visitor access.”
DEVELOPING SUSTAINABLE TOURISM
Sabah’s economic development is heavily predicated on tourism
but if Sabah is to remain pristine and intact, Sabah must balance
continued development with safeguarding its heritage and
environment for future generations.
Organisations such as The Sabah Society, Kinabalu National Park,
and Sabah Wetlands Conservation Society do much to protect
Sabah’s flora, fauna and culture. But efforts need to be taken
to a new level by making the protection of the environment an
everyday part of our lives and a key consideration in development.
Recognising tourism as a key driver of Sabah’s development
and economy, the developer of Kota Kinabalu’s PacifiCity, Pacific
Sanctuary Holdings, is eager to inspire Sabah’s movement towards
sustainable development.
The organisation plans to develop a luxury resort brand, Green
Village Resorts, which will bring sustainability to the forefront
through inspiring buildings constructed from bamboo and other
sustainable materials.
Green Village Resorts hope to inspire the emergence of a whole
green industry in Sabah. Bamboo plantations, whilst remaining
considerate to Sabah’s irreplaceable forestry, will offer Sabah
renewable timber with a four-year growth cycle and a large carbon
sequestration capacity – absorbing excessive carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere.
Bamboo factories will be built to process the timber. For
construction purposes, bamboo can be treated using a natural salt
solution (borax), which increases the material’s lifespan by making
it indigestible to insects and weevils such as woodborers. Used as
a construction material, bamboo can offer a compressive strength
similar to concrete and a strength-to-weight ratio of steel whilst
retailing natural flexibility.
Bamboo can also be manufactured into yarn, to make material for
clothing or soft furnishings and be used in composite materials
replacing, for example, energy intensive glass fibers used in
fibreglass. Bamboo fiber possesses a strong and more sustainable
fiber that could one day be used in many other industrial
processes.
Using bamboo and other sustainable materials within the
construction industry will have long-term benefit to Sabah,
reducing Sabah’s carbon footprint and allowing easier
decommission and redevelopment in future years as the materials
are readily able to be relocated, re-used or recycled.
As the world looks towards the East for future development, Sabah
will need to pioneer and model a State worth visiting, investing and
living in. This has to be hand in hand with environmental education
in a unique and experiential manner to provide a holiday, not
found anywhere else in the world.
10
www.PropertyHunter.com.my