OF PANDEMIC AND ECOTOURISM: POLUMPUNG MELANGKAP VIEW CAMP SITE, KOTA BELUD
21 April 2021
By Ilona Andrew
KOTA BELUD: Pitching up a tent and soaking in a clear, icy cold river during the day, and then spending the night beneath the stars, is one great way to escape the hustle and bustle of the city.
All of these can be found in many tourism sites in Kampung Melangkap Baru that sits along the Panataran River in Kota Belud. The spice of it is that the location offers a majestic view of Mount Kinabalu as the background.
One of them is Polumpung Melangkap View Camp Site that has become a favourite hangout spot for a lot of campers throughout the years.
While it’s usually packed with local holidaymakers, many times foreign tourists from around the world can be spotted too.
Its founder Somboton Gunsalahon, 70, said never once did they think about setting up a tourism attraction there until the occurrence of the devastating Mount Kinabalu earthquake incident in June 2015 where subsequent mud floods followed a few months later.
The incidents have altered the physical and geographical elements of the village which pervades along the river.
According to Somboton, there were two separate river streams and the area was shrouded in thick forest. The flood incident swept off most of the trees and flattened the once uneven ground. The two separated river streams joined together, forming a single channel.
Since then, a clear day will almost guarantee the unobstructed view of the magnificent Mount Kinabalu from there.
Many villagers nearby saw the opportunity to generate income by setting up rural ecotourism attractions here, most of them came up with homestays and campsites.
Somboton who is also the village chief of Kampung Melangkap Baru here revealed that many villagers benefitted from the incident even though they were not directly involved with the ecotourism industry, as they were able to supply their agricultural produces to these centres.
Even so, the plan to set up Polumpung Melangkap View Camp Site only started almost two years later after Somboton and his family spent two nights camping near the river.
“That time, a photo of the view that my son uploaded on Facebook during our camping session attracted many people who expressed interest to visit the location. A month later, we started receiving an influx of visitors.
“That was when we decided to clean the surrounding area and set up a campsite,” he said, adding that the set up was also made possible because of the continuous encouragement they received from their visitors.
The campsite was officially opened in February 2017 and never a day went by since then that they did not receive arrivals of local and foreign tourists alike, until the Covid-19 pandemic took over.
Polumpung Melangkap View Camp Site can have about 400 people at any one time according to its capacity but on average, it received 200 visitors a day. That was before the pandemic.
The site was closed for one whole year to make way for the implementation of movement control order (MCO) and inter-district travel ban in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
“As we were not able to generate income throughout MCO, we had to lay off some staff since we couldn’t pay their salaries.
“Most of our workers are villagers of Kampung Melangkap Baru. During the MCO, they went back to work on their farms,” he disclosed.
“It was a really trying time, indeed. But I did tell these workers that I would love to have them back here when things have become stable later,” he said, adding that even with recovery MCO now, it still seems impossible to fully recover from the loss.
It was only opened in March this year, after inter-district travel according to zones was allowed, and the capacity is now only limited to 150 people at any one time, following the standard operating procedures (SOPs) set by the government.
While walk-ins are allowed, the founder said it is more preferable for customers to book their trips online since slots are almost always occupied.
When the slot is full, they have no choice but to reject the remaining bookings in order to adhere to the SOP.
Most of the time, instead of cancelling their trips, they would change it to another available date where slots are available.
While the effort to restore the tourism industry in Sabah is welcomed, Somboton opined that tourism players in Sabah should be given the chance to receive Covid-19 jabs during the early stages of the vaccination programme.
This, he said, is to ensure that tourists are more confident to visit any local tourism attractions.
“Nevertheless, our only hope is for Covid-19 to be gone and when that happens later, we want the government to conduct inspections on places that are worked on by the people here and provide necessary assistance.
“Not just for the ecotourism sector, but anything of the people’s efforts that are intended to help the in the state development.”
The entrance fee at Polumpung Melangkap View Campsite is only RM3 to RM12 for overnight camping. Campers can bring their own tents or opt for rented tents from the site.
Those who wish to stay overnight to enjoy the river and view but opt out of camping activities can head on to their cabins or homestays.
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