MORE HAVE JOINED IN THE CHORUS TO SUPPORT THE LISTING OF MALIAU BASIN AS A WORLD HERITAGE SITE.

Potential for heritage listing

KOTA KINABALU 2010/01/05: More have joined in the chorus to support the listing of Maliau basin as a World Heritage Site.

State Finance Permanent Secretary Datuk Yusoff Kassim said it was important to protect the basin and its rich biodiversity.

He recently led 31 officers from various agencies such as the Economic Planning Unit, Treasury, Railway Department and Malaysian Productivity Corporation on an excursion to the "lost world of Sabah".

This was the third time that officers from various ministries had visited the site in the last two years.

The saucer-shaped area, distinguished by its almost circular perimeter, spans 25km in diameter.

The basin is 190km from the east coast district of Tawau and is accessible by road in about four hours' drive.

The Maliau basin is a forest terrain which is about six hours’ drive from Kota Kinabalu through Keningau and Pensiangan. Kinabalu through Keningau and Pensiangan.

It takes about six hours' drive from here through Keningau and Pensiangan, a distance of 260km.

Last year, state Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun proposed that the 588 sq km forest terrain be listed by Unesco (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) as a World Heritage Site.

Masidi had said the move would boost the Maliau basin's reputation as a research site among scientists around the world.

Places declared as World Heritage Sites in Malaysia are Mount Kinabalu National Park, Mulu National Park in Sarawak, George Town in Penang and Malacca.