IPOH: The campsite operators in the country are given two years beginning next year to improve their sites to be a safer place to stay to avoid a recurrence of the Batang Kali landslide which claimed 31 lives, last year.
Local Government Development minister, Nga Kor Ming said following this, the ministry today has launched campsite planning guidelines which focus on six principles.
Nga said the six principles are safety, comfort, sustainability, social continuity, economic prosperity and legal compliance.
"This coming Dec 16 marks the one year anniversary of the landslide incident at the campsite which claimed 31 lives including children.
"As such, it is paramount for the ministry to provide such guidelines and beginning next year, all camping activities must obey the six principles. When tourists go to the camping sites, they feel their safety is guaranteed.
"The main scope of these guidelines includes camping site planning, whether the sites can be developed, and must be equipped with public facilities such as toilets, surau, lighting and internet connectivity.
"These scopes will also be a guideline for the local councils before they can issue a licence for campsite operators," he told reporters after launching campsite planning guidelines at the D. R Seenivasagam Recreational Park here, today.
Nga added that the campsite operators could get advice from the technical departments such as the Minerals and Geoscience Department to ensure that the land structure was safe and could be developed as a camping site.
"It took us almost 10 months to come out with the guideline and we had various engagement sessions with relevant agencies and departments. We also met 150 camping operators to get their opinions.
Nga stressed that the guidelines were not to punish anyone and the government was not cruel enough to close the camping sites should they be found to breach the guidelines.
"We make this guideline to help them as well. We also received some of the feedback from the operators saying that they don't know what and how to follow since there is no guideline.
"So now after today, once this news is published, they know that this is exactly the guideline that they need to comply with.
"We will have a legalisation process, so after this guideline is launched, existing campsite operators will be given two years to conform to the guideline so that everything is safe and secure," he said.
On the recreational park, Nga announced RM750,000 allocation to upgrade the lighting system at the park, in preparation for the Visit Perak Year 2024.