Tanjung Aru Beach Festival has galvanized Sabahans’ opposition to TAED

Ten years after its launching, the 7.1-billion-ringgit Tanjung Aru Eco Development to turn Sabah’s most famous and spectacular 2-km beach into a tourism hub remains in limbo all because of opposition from Sabahans and environmentalists. And this has led Christina Liew, minister of tourism, environment and culture, to quip that she has been reminded of “how powerful our community is” in a speech to launch the two-day Tanjung Aru Beach Festival at Prince Philip Park in Kota Kinabalu which ended on September 22. Her speech, which was delivered by her assistant Joniston Bangkuai, paid tribute to Sabahans for being a “living testament to their talent, creativity, and resilience” in their participation of the festival. And if the bosses of TAED think that the festival will mitigate the people’s objection to their project, they are wrong. Rather the festival has galvanized Sabahans’ opposition to it.
Continue reading “Power to the people”