Marine Turtle Newsletter 67:29, © 1994
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Marine Turtle Newsletter 67:29, © 1994
Turtle egg collection at Pulau Sipadan, off Semporna [Sabah, Malaysia], has ceased following the signing of a package sales and purchase agreement today between three tour operators and two families who hold customary rights to collect turtle eggs on the island. The three tour operators [are] Borneo Divers and Sea Sports Sdn Bhd, Pulau Sipadan Resort Sdn Bhd and Sipadan Dive Centre Sdn Bhd. The two families were represented by Alukan Kaneh and 93-year-old Munting Panglima Abu Sari.
Under the agreement, the three operators will pay the two families a total annual sum of 50,000 Malaysian ringgit [M$2.60 = US$1.00] for a period of four years after which the agreement would be reviewed. In addition, the two families were also paid an ex-gratia payment amounting to M$70,000 today. This payment made by the three operators was in return for the families' unconditional guarantee that they would renounce any claim against the operators for any compensation for loss of income due to the operators' presence on the island.
[Tourism and Environmental Development Minister Datuk Tan Kit Sher] told a press conference today that in consideration of the annual M$50,000 payment, Alukan, Munting and their families would stop collecting eggs on the island with effect from today. "The two families shall sell all the turtle eggs laid on the island to the three tour operators," he said. According to him, the tour operators would buy up the eggs but would not resell them. "The tour operators will leave the turtle eggs where they are for natural hatching," he said.
He also said that Alukan, Munting and their families would continue to maintain their customary rights despite the signing of the agreement [and] to maintain the symbolic presence of the traditional egg collectors on the island, one member from each of the two families would be employed on the island ... by the three tour operators. He said that turtle egg collection at Pulau Sipadan dated back to 1878 but it was only in 1916 that the two families were bestowed customary rights to collect the eggs on the island by the British Government. [Today] Pulau Sipadan is a diving haven which has gained international recognition. Source: excerpted from Daily Express, 5 November 1993; Sabah, Malaysia.