MOUNT KINABALU'S ISSUES

Lester Wollis

2012-122420

Topic : Ministry Of Tourism

With the height of 4,095 meters which is 13,455 feet from sea level is worthy enough to be called as the tallest mountain in the Southeast Asia.  Hence, we know it as Mount Kinabalu. 

                

The Mount Kinabalu is under the care of the Sabah Parks (Main government Tourism Company in Sabah) with cooperation of other private company.  Everybody always ask why some of them who want to climb this mountain cannot do so while others easily get the chance to climb it.  The issue here is not about how to climb but why you cannot climb it easily.  According to one of the worker which works in the Kinabalu Park said that,

‘If you want to climb the mountain, you have to pay the permit to climb.  The permit usually cost RM 30(adult) and RM 12(child under 18) for local people means Malaysian and RM 100(adult) and RM 40(child under 18) for international climbers means non-Malaysian. But that’s only the permit haven’t included the package which is the insurance, guide, accommodation and porters (people who help to carry the bags).’

Now the question is why? Why some people cannot climb?  This is because the climbers need to book the climbing activity 6 month before the climbing.  The biggest issue here is that the accommodation at the mountain is very limited.  Each year the rate of people come to climb the mountain is getting higher.  So, the accommodation there cannot fit that amount of people in one time. 

That’s why the suggestion as the Ministry Of Tourism is to add the amount of accommodation at the mountain.  But the thing is, the accommodation must be cheap with good quality and environmentally suitable.  We need to think about the effects of the development at the mountain into consideration.  That's why it's important to find to good and suitable for this new accommodation's materials as it may pollutes the mountain if improper development method is used.  This suggestion brings also the price for the maintenance done every year.  Overall the rough amount the cost of maintenance is RM 50,000 and above.  Most of The accommodation there is own by the private company which is the Sutera Sanctuary Lodge (SSL).  Usually if the cost of the maintenance is higher than RM 50,000, the company will negotiate with the Sabah Parks to handle the maintenance problem.  This is because, even though the SSL is in charge of most of the accommodation at the mountain, they are still monitored by the Sabah Parks.  With this new accommodation finished the cost rate to stay there for one day will be lesser because the cost of staying at the mountain is quite expensive.  That’s why the cost of climbing the mountain is not only the permit but the package which is the accommodation which cost the most.  Below here is the quotation of the accommodation rate at the mountain.  Although the following quotation refers to SSL, but Sabah Parks also cooperate in managing the accommodation of the following.  Note that the Sayat-Sayat hut from the picture above is not included in the quotation as it’s for the workers. 

 ACCOMODATION RATES MANAGED BY SUTERA SANCTUARY LODGES

Tel.N0: 6-088 – 287887/303915/393916  Fax : 6 – 098 – 259552

Email : Info@suterasanctuarylodges.com.my / sales@suterasanctuarylodges.com.my

Website : www.suterasanctuarylodges.com.my

N0	Accomodation	N0 of Units	Rate	Room Configuration	Type of Facilities
01	Gunting Lagadan Hut	60 Beds	Rm310(Per Pax) (Full board meals)	Dormitory bunk Beds	Basic cooking facilities,common toilet &Bathroom
02	Panar Laban Hut	8 Beds	-do-	-do-	-do-
03	Laban Rata Resthouse Room 1 Room 2 Room 3	60 Beds 1 unit 1 unit 1 unit	Rm352 (Per Pax) (Full board meals) Rm736.00 (Full board meals) -do- Rm2208.00 (Full board meals)	-do- 2 persons(2s) -do- 6 persons	-do- Restaurant area Attached bathroom Toilet,room heater, Heated shower & Restaurant area -do- -do-
04	Waras Hut	8 Beds	Rm310 (Per Pax)	Dormitory bunk beds	Basic cooking facilities,common toilet &Bathroom

The blurry text below shows the fees to climb the mountain taken from the Kinabalu Park office itself.

Reference 

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Kinabalu

2. Sintoh, Wollis, ed. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.(Kinabalu Park worker)