{"id":6450,"date":"2010-04-09T12:26:17","date_gmt":"2010-04-09T04:26:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/?p=6450"},"modified":"2010-04-09T12:30:00","modified_gmt":"2010-04-09T04:30:00","slug":"pulau-redang-for-the-rich-only","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/borninmalaysia\/2010\/04\/09\/pulau-redang-for-the-rich-only\/","title":{"rendered":"Pulau Redang for the rich only?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m disgusted with the proposal by the Terengganu MB.\u00a0 Read this<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

KUALA TERENGGANU: Pulau Redang \u2014 rated as one of the world\u2019s most beautiful islands \u2014 is set to be turned into a getaway exclusively for the rich and famous.<\/p>\n

Terengganu Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said said the state government would no longer approve the construction of chalet-type accommodation on the renowned island, which is much visited by the diving community.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly hotels rated five-star and above will be allowed to be built,\u201d he said when met after the state assembly sitting here yesterday.<\/p>\n

In future, only wealthy individuals would be able to afford holidays in Pulau Redang as hotel rooms will cost no less than US$500 (RM1,599) a night, Ahmad said.<\/p>\n

He that said with the decision to turn the island into a high-end holiday destination, current chalets catering for backpackers would have to upgrade and raise their rates.<\/p>\n

Asked if the move would draw criticism from non-governmental organisations, Ahmad said it was the only way to save the surrounding rich marine life and prevent environmental destruction due to pollution and indiscriminate littering.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the budget accommodation places on the island have no proper sewage system and waste is directed to the sea, and this destroys the corals,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Apart from that, Pulau Redang is a jewel for Terengganu and the 10th most beautiful island in the world, Ahmad said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEfforts must be made to save the island from deteriorating environmentally. Those on budget excursions can visit other islands like Pulau Kapas and Pulau Perhentian that are equally charming.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pulau Redang, a popular holiday destination for locals as well as foreigners, attracts about 100,000 visitors annually including many who flock there to visit the marine park.<\/p>\n

Terengganu Tourist Association deputy president Alex Lee lauded the move, saying that it was time for Malaysia to create its own niche market.<\/p>\n

\u201cRedang has only one five-star hotel and others are mostly budget accomodations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He believed the move by Ahmad was initiated out of concern for the environment as damage to the corals had been extensive.<\/p>\n

The owner of an eight-room hotel in Redang, however, was worried that his livelihood would be affected if Pulau Redang became an exclusive holiday destination.<\/p>\n

He said the move would affect many holidaymakers, both local and foreign, who would not be able to afford to stay in Pulau Redang if the state government went ahead with the niche market proposal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope the state government will meet budget hotel and chalet operators in Redang to get our views and include us in the planning,\u201d said the man, who wanted to be known only as Dina,<\/p>\n

He also said the state government should ensure there was proper drainage and sewage on the island for better waste disposal.<\/p>\n

Another chalet operator, Nik Kamal Nik Husin, 43, said the move would only burden the villagers on the island as many were renting out rooms to budget travellers.<\/p>\n

He also said only a handful of irresponsible chalet operators were directing the waste into the sea.<\/p>\n

The state government, he said, should build a centralised sewage treatment to deal with the waste disposal problem.<\/p>\n

\n<\/blockquote>\n

Not only NGO, public like me also angry at this stupid proposal.<\/p>\n

The problem is enforcement, but to hide this weakness in his government, they propose to build high end accommodation so that only higher end lodgings will be placed with proper systems.\u00a0 Its very much against 1Malaysia. Dah la we have 1Malaysia, 2Staatus. No we going to discriminate against our own rakyat, whom average monthly income is RM4000++.<\/p>\n

Obviously those with business agenda to target more income will support this move, with niche market plan,\u00a0 but what about the social agenda? How the own countrymen going to experience their own national marine park?<\/p>\n

Government should intervene but not in this way. They should build proper infrastructure, come out with the rules and regulations, and most importantly, improve the enforcement. This proposal sounds more like money making scheme instead of environmental protection. If really care about environment, should issue passes and limit monthly visit to certain number of visitors only.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m disgusted with the proposal by the Terengganu MB.\u00a0 Read this: KUALA TERENGGANU: Pulau Redang \u2014 rated as one of the world\u2019s most beautiful islands \u2014 is set to be turned into a getaway exclusively for the rich and famous. Terengganu Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said said the state government would no longer approve the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[112,200,132],"class_list":["post-6450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-borninmalaysia","tag-discrimination","tag-terengganu","tag-tourism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6450"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6450\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6451,"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6450\/revisions\/6451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}