Sabahans shun Mt Kinabalu nowadays

Ever since the management of Mt Kinabalu is privatised few years back,the fees to be spent on climbing to the summit has being rising steadily. Now it is beyond the reach of ordinary locals,especially the students who formed the bulk of local climbers in the past. This sad situation was disclosed by none other than the Minister of Tourism of Sabah himself.Then again the state government is bound by contract and nothing much can be done. So fellow Sabahans forget about climbing Mt Kinabalu at least once a year like before,thanks to the "wise" state government! The state government is wise or not,I am not so sure,but they are definitely smart to let the private management company to hold the controlling card in approving the mount climbing permit. Why it is smart,let me explain. The Tourism Minister said the high price is due to the tour operators bundling every thing into a single package.From the surface it seems to make sense, but the real truth is the state government has allowed the private management company to manipulate the permit application such that nobody will get the permit unless they go through "the company". The National Park Warden will not approve the permit if the applicant does not meet any of the following requirement:

1. proof of booking for accommodation for the night halfway up the mountain
2. two experience mountain guides
3. must begin the climb early in the morning
4. properly prepared for the climb

Very reasonable and not difficult to comply, right? Wrong, item #1 is the secret.The accommodation (rest house at Laban Rata,pic at left)is run by the company in question. When the company is entrusted to run this rest house,they convert it into a luxurious setting,hence justifying them to charge a high price.

Under other Chief Ministers before the current one, the rest house mentioned above had very simple furniture, with dormitory type of beds,climbers sometimes have to sleep in sleeping bags.But the fees were very affordable so almost all climbers rushed to book and stayed in here. When it was fully booked then the late comers had to stay in zinc huts further up the slope(about 5 minutes climb)as shown here. The situation is the other way round now, people rush for the huts,when all the huts are taken,then only they will book into the rest house.
The Tourism Minister announced that the abandoned construction project for a new rest house will be revived,so that more rooms will be available when it is completed. (The project was stopped because the contractor used bomb to clear some boulder for the foundation works.This practice was widely criticised for it may damage the slope structure of Mt Kinabalu,may even cause Mt Kinabalu to lose its status as a world Heritage site.) But I doubt the strategy will ever work if the state government privatises the new rest house also. We will be back to square one again.