Orang Tawau Berjamu

ORANGTAWAU BERJAMU

Pejabat Perhutanan Wilayah Tawau mengadakan Majlis . Makan Malam Tahunan 1996 pada 4 Januari lalu bertempat di Dewan Sri Tawau.

Majlis tersebut diserikan dengan persembahan tarian dan persembahan di bawah bimbingan Bahar Haji

Kahar. Cabutan tiket bertuahjuga menarik perhatian kakitangan dengan pelbagai hadiah lwnayan.

Apa yang ditengok tu... .para kakitangan yang hadir pada malam tersebut.

PengarahlKetua Eksekutif, Datuk Musa Haji Aman (gambah bawah, dua dari kanan) menandatangani dokumen Perjanjian Program Master of Business Administration (MBA) dengan Institut Teknologi Mara (ITM) pada 21 Januari barn-barn ini, bertempat di Bilik Latihan Yayasan Sabah.

Perjanjian empat pihak tersebut, melibatkan Kerajaan Negeri Sabah, ITM, Yayasan Sabah dan Edith Cowan University, Australia membolehkan program MBA dijalankan di ITM kampus Sabah. Dengan termeterainya perjanjian itu, Yayasan Sabah akan menaja sebilangan pelajar untuk mengikuti kursus peringkat sarjana tersebul yang akan bermula pada bulllJl Februari 1997.

Majlis lersebut disaksikan oleh Pembantu Menteri Kewangan, Datuk Karim Hajj Bujang.

Serius nampak.. .. Pengurus Perhutanan Wilayah Tawau, Daud Tampokong selaku : Pengerusi Penganjur.

Persembahan tarian kehudayaan Tidong dan Daling-Daling.

Cfhe Maliau lJasin "Sabah's .cost, World" Highest peak Challenge

Story & Photos by Patricia Mobilik

dedicated to: YS, C&ES Mustamin Mansah Alin Cheen Hong Sabran Ali Sarjeet Singh

The Maliau Basin is now widely known as "Sabah's Lost World" and it is located in the southern central part ofSa bah within the one million hectare Yayasan Sabah forest concession. It is an area of about 390 sq. km. of pristine wilderness practi-

By unspoiled by human interference. -....-,aliau Basin, situated in the Sandakan residency is also one of the two conservation areas managed by the Forest Upstream Division of Yayasan Sabah, the other being the Danum Valley Conservation Area in the Lahad Datu region.

Since the early 1960's, several expeditions in and around the Maliau Basin, have been conducted and the results of each exploration never failed to collect new information in the process of discovering this new area. In 1988 the first successful scientific expedition was mounted within the Maliau Basin, and was jointly organized by the Yayasan Sabah and World Wildlife Fund [WWF] Malaysia. It was then that Maliau Basin earned its esignation as "Sabah's Lost World". Even ___ough this expedition managed to explore a large area of the Basin, there was a larger portion unexplored. In May 1996, the second Maliau Basin Scientific Expedition was organized involving Yayasan Sabah,

Universiti Malaysia Sabah, and several other government agencies, but the expedition only concentrated on the south west plateau of the Basin. There is still the greater Maliau rim of ridges surrounding it to discover!

In proceeding to organizing more scientific _ expeditions to discover the unexplored portions ofthe Maliau Basin the Conservation and Environment Services Section (C &

ES) of the Forestry Upstream Division proposed an expedition to Maliau Basin's northern rim. So began the latest "Sabah's

Lost World" challenge. This was part of a Raleigh International project which took part between May ·July 1996, the aim was to access the t r ail system was to be constructed to facilitate access to the yet unknown portions of the Maliau Basin - the rim ridges and the highest peak Gunung Lotung for other scientific expeditions to follow.

The Maliau Basin rim ridges as seen from Kg. Inarad, a small Murut village 20 km north ofthe Basin, form

tain with steep bare broken slopes especially beneath the highest peak, Gunung Lotung. The people in the village have never claimed to have gone up the escarpment. Below this escarpment lies Sabah's only known natural lake called Lake Linumumsut, about 20 hectares in size. The legend of Gunung Lotung has it that during a great flood a group of people was rowing a canoe

Pix I Sabran Ali, and Sarjeet Singh looking at rhe fungus growing on the peak ofGunung wrung.

Pix 2 .... onefol'rhe peak ofGunung wtung!! Forest Officer Parricia Mobilik (ExpediUon Leader)

Maliau Basin northern rim on constructing a trail and a couple of heJipads.

As soon as the Maliau Basin Scientific Expedition team packed up and airlifted out of the Basin on May 25, 1996, the Raleigh International Expedition Malaysia [codename 96D] walked into the Basin to begin yet another exciting expedition into the unknown.

Raleigh International is a charitable organization which aims to gather youths between 17 -25 years ofage from all walks of life, and help them develop leadership skills through working with an international team of young people in demanding works, focusing on community, scientific, conservation and high adventure projects.

This year's Raleigh International expedition mission to the Maliau Basin concentrated on constructing a trail system from Camp 88 to the peak of Gunung Lotung, approximately 15 -20kmalong four treacherous Maliau mid-mountain ridges and possibly to clear helipads along the way. This down Inarad River when they heard the cry of a slow loris on the mountain, hence the mountain got its name "Lotung", a Murut word for a slow loris. From far inside the south of the Basin, the peak of Gunung Lotung is hidden among the clouds except on extremely fine weather.

The trek to Gunung Lotung began from Camp 88 One some 2.5 km upstream from the Maliau Falls. The ascent up to Gn. Lotung was done in stages. In the first phase of the expedition between May 27 June 7, led by Forest Ranger Mustamin Mansah and myself, we succeeded in putting in a 6 km trail up the Rambutan Ridge and a perrnanentcampsite named 96D One. The second phase between June 14 - June 29 brought the trail another 8 km longer, right up to the northern rim ridge. Then, on the final phase ofthe expedition which was joined by Junior Forest Officer Sarjeet Singh of Community Forestry Sandakan, Forest Ranger Sabran Ali from Danum Valley Field Centre and myself, the first recorded trekking adventure to conquer the highest peak in the Maliau Basin began ....

TO BE CONTINUED .. NEXT ISSUE.