from Borneo Post online
The clearance of private forested land in Sukau to establish an office for the bridge contractor and store heavy machinery for the construction of the proposed bridge-road has left Danau Girang Field Centre director Dr Benoit Goossens completely distraught.
“Seventeen years ago, the Kinabatangan was called Sabah’s ‘Gift to the Earth’ and in 2005, the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary was created to increase forest connectivity along the Kinabatangan River, protect several charismatic species such as the orangutan, the elephant and the proboscis monkey, some of them becoming, over the years, iconic species for attracting eco-tourists to the state,” explained Goossens.
He pointed out that in the Elephant and Orangutan State Action Plans 2012-2016, which were supported by the government, it was clearly stated that any process that would further fragment the habitat of elephant and orangutan populations such as highways and bridges must be prevented. Therefore, the proposed bridge and road in Sukau are directly conflicting with the content of those two policy documents.
This excerpt from an article appeared in and is courtesy of Boreno Post online and can be read in its entirety here.
