Daily Express
Published on Sunday, February 26,2012
"At the moment I think everything has been put on hold because of the city's masterplan (local draft plan) and if we are not successful (in preventing the move to excise) and it happens then it will be a disaster for the centre. Just imagine there will be three blocks of 31 storeys for 500 units of condominiums and it will be just outside our boundary," he said.
"We hope it will not come true. The proposal is still there and anything can happen but we will make sure we put our views very strongly to the authorities because the government only collects one time fees or taxes in this case but the damage to the environment will be done for years to come."
It was learnt that there is a proposal for City Hall to approve plans to construct an access road to sustain traffic for over 1,000 vehicles for the proposed condominium residents through part of the wetland area.
Zainie was responding to questions at the launching of World Wetlands Day at the Kota Kinabalu Wetlands on Saturday which was officiated at by Deputy Tourism Minister Datuk Dr James Dawos Mamit.
World Wetlands Day is traditionally celebrated in February to mark the date of adoption of the International Convention on Wetlands on Feb 2, 1971 in Ramsar, Iran.
"SWCS has been organising World Wetlands Day celebration as one of its major events each year with the support of HSBC Bank under its CSR programme "Invest in the Young and the Future".
"The celebration this year will focus on the theme "Wetlands and Tourism" with the slogan 'Wetland Tourism: A Great Experience' which has been designed to create a sense of awareness about the role tourism plays on the environment.
"Wetland tourism has benefits both locally and nationally for people and wildlife such as stronger economies, sustainable livelihoods, healthy people and thriving ecosystems," he said.
Zainie said wetlands make ideal locations for tourism as it provides other "services" too such as water, abundance of fish, plenty of wildlife, water purification and erosion control for the benefit of tourists and tourist accommodation.
"The income generated by tourism for national and local economies by wetlands can be substantial.
It is acknowledged in the tourism industry that Wetlands designated as Ramsar Sites attract local and international tourists.
"SWCS is continuing with its efforts to obtain Ramsar site status for Kota Kinabalu Wetlands and being within the boundary of the City of Kota Kinabalu, it will definitely promote tourism," he said.
At the event 116 students from eight schools were presented with awards by SWCS for participating in the recent birding activity (Bird Race) which was organised on Feb 18-19.
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