TUARAN: The Integrated State Cultural Mapping System Development Project in Sabah and the Old Welfare Services Office Building Restoration Study Project approved by the state government this year are among the efforts taken to preserve and protect the cultural heritage as a symbol of the state’s civilization.
The Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Panglima Hajiji Noor, said both new projects were approved under the 12th Malaysia Plan Mid-Term Review (12MP).
He said a total of RM2 million was allocated for the Integrated State Cultural Mapping System Development Project in Sabah, while the Old Welfare Services Office Building Restoration Study Project involved an allocation of RM200,000.
“This mapping project aims to transform the management of Sabah’s ethnic cultural information into a modern information system in line with the government’s digitalization plan.
“The study will also witness the reconstruction of a historical building, the British North Borneo Chartered Company Office, which was previously destroyed by fire.
“This building also aims to preserve and protect historical sites and buildings, as well as becoming an important cultural art gallery in Sabah. Both projects are new projects and are accountable to the Sabah State Cultural Board,” he said in his speech at the Opening Ceremony of the Bajausama Sabah Cultural Festival at the Bajausama Cultural Centre Hall, Lok Batik Village near here, on Wednesday.
Hajiji said various efforts have been made by the government to enable the target of three million tourists to Sabah this year to be achieved.
He emphasised that, besides arts and culture, tourism products such as community-based tourism are an ecotourism segment that is gaining attention from various local and international communities.
Hajiji also urged ethnic associations in the state to continue developing and promoting ethnic culture and community-based tourism products in their respective areas, as well as to collaborate to strengthen and preserve Sabah’s ethnic cultural heritage.
Hajiji said that the uniqueness and diversity of Sabah’s heritage, ethnicity, culture, and people are important assets as tourist attractions that need to be preserved and protected as symbols of the state’s civilization.
As the President of the Sabah Bajausama Ethnic Association, he hoped that the Sabah Bajausama Cultural Festival, which lasted for four days starting last Sunday, would serve as a platform to preserve the cultural heritage of the state.
He added that the festival’s objective is to revive and promote traditional culture and strengthen relationships among the local residents.
He asserted that the festival, which has been included in the tourism calendar, is not only attended by the Bajausama community but also celebrated by people of various ethnicities and descendants in the state.
He said that the festival is also a platform to engage the interest of the younger generation in various arts and cultural events of the Bajausama ethnic group in the state.
