Christina Liew
KOTA KINABALU: Any activities within the protected area that has been gazetted under the State Government must obtain approval before any activities can commence, said Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew.
According to her, to date, the authorities for the Tun Mustapha Marine Park (TMP), which was gazetted as a Marine Park under the Parks Enactment 1984 in 2016, have not received any applications or granted any approvals related to oil and gas exploration activities within the Tun Mustapha Marine Park (TMP) area.
“The Tourism, Culture, and Environment Ministry (KePKAS), through the Sanah Parks Board of Trustees, is responsible for ensuring that the marine ecosystem within the protected area is fully preserved in accordance with the Parks Enactment 1984 and other related State laws.
“KePKAS and the Environment Protection Department (EPD) have also confirmed with the Environment Department (DOE) that, as of today, no Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) reports have been submitted for the SB-403 Production Sharing Contract (PSC) site,” Liew said in a statement today.
She was responding to Environmental Watchdog RimbaWatch’s call to the Sabah State Government to not approve permits for any oil and gas operations planned within the TMP, a significant marine protected area.
Last week, RimbaWatch’s Rapid Response warned that the impending oil and gas exploration threatens over 45,000 hectares of coral reefs, 17,000 hectares of mangroves and more than 180 species classified as vulnerable or endangered, with over 85,000 individuals at risk of losing their livelihoods.
