Sabah – News Flash

KKIA Registers Double-Digit Growth in 3^rd Quarter

Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) registered a 29 per cent increase in international passenger traffic as of September still making it the tourism gateway to Sabah and Borneo.  This was announced by Malaysia Airports Managing Director Datuk Badlisham Ghazali.  In his opinion, this was due to many factors.  One is the combined efforts of the State Government and Sabah Tourism in promoting Sabah and Kota Kinabalu as a tourist destination.

Another factor is the consolidation of operations of all carriers in one terminal which also resulted to increased performance of the airlines that have routes to and from Kota Kinabalu.  On a daily basis, KKIA now handles 180 flights on the average and more than twice the number of passengers prior to the consolidation.

Even the airlines reported increases in their performances.  The AirAsia Group, which had protested the consolidation, reported a 16 percent growth with the new arrangement as compared to the same period last year.  Jin Air even increased its Incheon-Kota Kinabalu route to two flights per day.  According to Badlisham, the consolidation provided convenience and comfort to both airlines and passengers alike, like additional parking bays and check-in counters.

On its part, Malaysia Airports has pledged RM10 million to support efforts to further develop the tourism industry in Sabah such as promoting Sabah as a tourist destination from North East Asia in collaboration with Sabah Tourism.  China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan account to nearly half of the international tourist arrivals last year.

Badlisham added that he favors expansion of the terminal than building a new airport.

Soccom Sponsors Journalism Training Workshop

The Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu, through its Social Communications Commission (Soccom), is organizing a training workshop on the basic aspects of journalism at the Stella Maris Church, Tanjung Aru, on December 10 – 11.  According to Ruben Sario, chairman of the training programme, they are expecting officials of Commissions and associations of parishes in the archdiocese to attend the workshop.  It will cover basic news-writing, photography, interviewing techniques and steps to be taken to give coverage to news worthy activities of the diocese, among others.

The main purpose of the workshop is to upgrade the writing skills of the participants so that they will be better equipped to contribute articles and photographs to Catholic Sabah, a publication of the church issued twice a month.   Registration forms are available at the office of the Archdiocese in Penampang or at its website, www.kkdiocese.net.

World Sight Day 2016 Celebration at QEH1

In celebration of World Sight Day 2016, the Lions Club International District 308-A2 Regions 5 and 6 collaborated with the Department of Ophthalmology of Queen Elizabeth Hospital 1 (QEH1) and Sabah Society for the Blind to conduct the Service for Sight project on October 16 and the mezzanine floor of QEH1.

Activities for that day include visual acuity screening, eye examination and education, among others.  Free reading glasses will be given on a first-come, first-served basis.

Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Booklets Distributed

Booklets and picture story books on disaster prevention and mitigation were presented to the State, represented by Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister Datuk Edward Yong, by Chinese Counsel to Kota Kinabalu Chen Pei Jie on the occasion of this year’s United Nations International Day for Disaster Reduction.  These reference materials are written in Chinese, English and Bahasa Malaysia which will be distributed mainly to schools and the people in the Ranau to make them more prepared in the event of a major earthquake or other disasters in the future.

The 6.0 magnitude earthquake that rocked Sabah last year was a wake-up call for the State to embark on information campaign activities on disaster prevention and mitigation so as to prevent or minimize loss to life and property should another disaster occur.