Sabah chief minister Hajiji Noor said the now revised and scaled-down TAED project would be people-centric, incorporating features that would provide for more public spaces and accessibility.
Hajiji said that after taking over the reins in September last year, the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) government had decided that the TAED project would proceed after a revision to downsize its development scale.
Chairing his first TAED board of directors meeting at his office here today, he said the iconic Tanjung Aru beach and the Prince Philip Park would be “maintained, improved and beautified for the public to access and enjoy.”
“The new development will ensure sustainability and take into account green initiatives,” he said in a statement today.
Hajiji said the state government had also decided that all TAED projects must not only be viable financially, economically and socially but also be fully funded by investors sanctioned by the government.
“We must remember that besides monetary gains, the economic and social returns are equally important.
“This includes the number of jobs and business opportunities that will be created by TAED and its contribution to the development of the tourism sector,” he said.
He said Chinese government-linked company China Railway Construction Company International Investment Group Ltd had expressed interest in TAED through its local joint-venture company, Mesra Melia Sdn Bhd.
Meanwhile, the TAED board has decided to exclude two schools namely, SK Tanjung Aru I and SK Tanjung Aru II, from the area to be developed.
In the previous master development plan, it was proposed that the schools be relocated to Kampung Tanjung Aru which would have involved land acquisition.
In January, the TAED was among two megaprojects that deputy chief minister Bung Moktar Radin had said would resume as planned, the other being the Papar Dam.
However, Bung said the TAED, originally planned as a multibillion-ringgit mixed development project in Tanjung Aru here, would be scaled down and would not involve any reclamation work.
At the same time, the government also mulled over the possibility of moving the Papar Dam to its original location in Penampang.
The previous Warisan-led state government had also planned to resume both projects, initiated by the earlier Barisan Nasional government, but received brickbats from NGOs and political parties, including those in the GRS now.
Warisan had proposed to move the dam project to Papar from Kaiduan in Penampang but it was still met with objection from several parties, including the Taskforce Against Kaiduan Dam.