Kota Kinabalu: Semporna Bajau Bumiputera Association (Perbubas) President Mansor Santiri urged the State Government to act on the deteriorating condition of Mabul Island brought by illegal homestay operators and squatter settlements, which threatens the island’s status as a world-class tourism destination.
He called on Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, the District Office and the Land and Survey Department to enforce existing laws and relocate unregistered settlers from the island.
“Mabul has been gazetted as a tourism industry zone and what’s happening now is far from what was intended.
window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []};googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.defineSlot('/22826383987/dailyexpress_inline', [1, 1], 'gpt-passback').addService(googletag.pubads());googletag.enableServices();googletag.display('gpt-passback');});“The island is dirty, the waters are polluted with plastic waste and many homes are illegally built on stilts over the sea,” he said, adding that he has been raising the issue since the Barisan Nasional era.