KOTA KINABALU: The state government is taking preventive measures to ensure tourists arriving in the state are healthy and free from infectious viral diseases.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said while the government encourages foreign tourists to travel to Sabah, matters pertaining to health would be given much attention to prevent the deadly virus from spreading such as the coronavirus.
“We are concerned about that…the world is. We are taking preventive measures, where we install instruments to detect (virus) at both departure and entry points. We want to make sure they (tourists) are healthy.
“We do encourage tourists, including from China, to come. However, the Chinese government has decided to temporarily restrain their people from going abroad.
“This is something we must also look into to prevent te virus from spreading in this part of the world,” Shafie told reporters at the state government Chinese New Year Open House celebration here today.
He stressed the virus could be contained at the moment, adding the state government was working closely with the Health Ministry to control the situation.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Christina Liew pointed out that Sabah had suspended scheduled flights from Wuhan pending further notice and clearance from the Health Ministry with regards to coronavirus outbreak.
She said chartered flights from other parts of China would operate as usual, save for Wuhan.
“If there’s a cancellation (of flights), then it is for the good of the people. We don’t want to take the risk if it’s going to jeopardise the health of our people.
“Although we have high hopes for tourist arrivals to keep increasing, we have to balance it (take precautionary steps). If it is going to bring disease (into Sabah), we have to be careful.”
Liew, who is also the state tourism, culture and environment minister, revealed that last year’s tourist arrival had exceeded the state government’s 4 million target, with 4.195 million people recorded to have visited Sabah from Jan to Dec 2019.
“Although this year is going to be challenging, we will see how we can bring in tourists from other countries, such as Europe and Australia, among others. We will not stop promoting Sabah,” she said.
Earlier, speaking to thousands of open house attendees, Mohd Shafie touched on the importance of maintaining peace and unity among Sabahans of diverse racial background.
“It’s impossible to develop Sabah if there is no unity and respect for one another. To respect, we must understand each other because if we don’t have a deep understanding, we will fail.
“Festive celebration such as Chinese New Year helps to unite us and this is indeed what has been highlighted by Sabah. The Chinese people play an important role in terms of economy in pulling investment to the state,” he said.