TANJUNG ARU ECO PROJECT WILL BE PEOPLE-CENTRIC -- SABAH CM

KOTA KINABALU, Sept 7  -- The revised and scaled-down Tanjung Aru Eco Development (TAED) will be people-centric and incorporate features to provide for more public spaces and accessibility.

Chairing his first TAED board of directors meeting at Menara Kinabalu here, Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Hajiji Noor said the iconic Tanjung Aru beach and the Prince Philip Park will be maintained, improved, and beautified for the public to access and enjoy.

“The new development will ensure sustainability and take into account green initiatives,” he said in a statement today.

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The chief minister said the Sabah government has also decided there will not be any cost incurred to the government and all TAED projects must not only be viable financially, economically, and socially but also be fully funded by the investors sanctioned by the government.

"We must remember that besides monetary gains, equally important are the economic and social returns.

“This includes the number of jobs and business opportunities that will be created by TAED and its contribution to the development of the tourism sector," he added.

He noted that several companies have expressed interest in TAED, and among them is Chinese Government-linked company - China Railway Construction Company International Investment Group Ltd through its local joint-venture company, Mesra Melia Sdn Bhd.

Hajiji said that upon taking over in September last year, the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) state government has decided that the TAED project would proceed after a revision to downsize its development scale.

Meanwhile, the TAED Board has also decided to exclude two schools, namely Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Tanjung Aru I and SK Tanjung Aru II from the development.

In the previous Master Development Plan, it was proposed that the schools be relocated to Kampung Tanjung Aru which would involve land acquisition.

-- BERNAMA