KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is set to launch the Elephant Food Corridor that would hopefully reduce human-elephant conflicts in the east coast regions of the state.
State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew (pic) said the food corridor in Kinabatangan is ready to be launched early next year.
Conservation has always been her ministry’s priority, she added.
Liew said this year, the Sabah Wildlife Department extended the sea turtle conservation programme for another five years through a memorandum of understanding with Friends of Sea Turtles Education and Research (Foster) on Libaran Island.
She said she also expects the proposed Sabah Cultural Complex in Kinarut near here to take off next year.
On tourism, Liew said her ministry together with the Sabah Tourism Board had been successful in resuming international and domestic direct flights to Kota Kinabalu that were discontinued following the Covid-19 pandemic.
She added that 10 domestic and international new routes were added while nine routes resumed this year.
“These efforts have greatly improved Sabah’s connectivity to domestic and international destinations,” she said.
Liew said her ministry had also launched the 24/7 Careline Chatbot to ensure the safety of tourists on holiday in the state.
“It is a digital tool specially designed by the board to provide tourists with round-the-clock access to essential information and support,” she added.
She said the east coast Tawau district saw the groundbreaking for the Tawau International Cultural Centre earlier this year, and Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor had announced that two new tourism-related projects would take off next year.
The two proposed development projects comprise a resort comprising 30 chalets at the Tawau Hills Park and a Tawau jetty to accommodate boats designed to ferry tourists from Tawau to the Semporna islands.
Liew said she is confident the recently launched Sabah Malaysia My Second Home programme will gain traction, and its MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) industry will continue to grow.
