Malaysia's Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Chong Kah Kiat announced recently that the contractor whose barge scraped clean the coral at Sipadan's Drop-off Point has apologized. Phew. What good news. Additionally, the contracting company has indicated that it would pay for the clean-up, and (I assume) the "re-planting" of the corals that are expected to occur. Previously, I had fretted that the contractor would be performing the clean-up duties itself, but it does not *appear* that this will be the case. However, the FiNs blog points out that Sipadan -- because it is a "relatively healthy reef" that only suffered damage to approximately 0.1% of its total reef area -- can probably recover naturally.
Meanwhile, government officials are calling for Sabah Parks -- the agency charged with protecting Sipadan -- to be relieved of its duties. According to Sabah deputy chairperson Christina Liew, if Sabah parks can not handle its responsibilities, then those responsibilities should be transferred to professionals who can handle them. On the other hand, rather than hobble Sabah Parks, some people, like the WWF's Angela Lim, believes the agency "needs a full mandate and a proper management plan for biodiversity." In conjunction with government, private sector, and local stakeholders like divers and dive operators, Lim hopes that Sabah Parks may rebound from the tragedy and ultimately learn from its mistake.
