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Our Solidarity and Commitment to Responsible Actions for Sustainable Development
Experimental Tour 2
Taiton Attracts
the Attention of MOTAC
NICHOLAS TIONG and FAREINY MORNI
9th October 2021
On 7th October 2021, Sarawak Research Society (SRS) and the community leaders of Bau joined hands to welcome the officials of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia (MOTAC) to visit several of Bau’s historical landmarks and famous attractions. The purpose of this event is to highlight and report a number of the issues faced by each destination in attracting visitor interest.
The participants in this tour include the Director of Tourism Malaysia Puan Noriah Jaafar, Assistant Director En. Kevin Jantan anak Robert Bidi, Tourism Officer Puan Agnes Felicia Joseph, Tourism Officer Yusaini Amir Mohamad Yusof, Director of One Wayang Sdn. Bhd. Mr Chua Juan Chuan, Regional Manager of Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) En Abdul Mutalib, Head of Section of SFC Ms Arianti Atong, Chairman of Hwa Gong Bau Historical Society Pemanca Bong Jong Long, Treasurer Mr Lucas Lim Tee Kiat, Taiton Kapitan Phang Man Fook, Chairman of SRS Assoc. Prof. Dr Hiram Ting and his project team.
Experimental Tour participants at the entrance of Gold Mine Cave where Angelic Rays are spotted.
As part of the Experimental Tour program, the half-day trip began at 9:30 a.m. and ended at 11 a.m. Among the destinations that were visited are Sleeping Beauty, Little Guilin, Double V Hole, Golden Stone Hole (Angelic Rays), and Little Stone Forest.
After a successful first experimental tour which was held in July 2021, positive steps had been taken by the government to protect the natural attractions in Bau. In order to prevent the natural habitat from being further damaged by illegal miners, a number of the caves in Taiton have been gazetted and protected under the custodian of SFC. Among the first steps taken by SFC is the erection of fencing on the border of the newly established national park in Taiton.
During this trip, other major challenges facing the development of local tourism in Bau were also effectively communicated to Puan Noriah and her team. This is to provide them with the correct information to assess the difficulties faced by the local community in making Bau a preferred tourism destination. It is hoped that these issues can be addressed and rectified by the necessary agencies as soon as possible.
As a gesture of appreciation, at the end of the trip, Dr Hiram presented the second issue of Journal of Responsible Tourism Management to Puan Noriah and Encik Abdul Mutalib. Future meetings were also discussed in order to expedite collaborations between stakeholders to ensure the preservation of Taiton and its status as one of Sarawak’s national park.