National Park’s tourism activities at a standstill

JERANTUT: Tourism activities at the National Park in Kuala Tahan here has come to a standstill due to the recent floods.

The floating restaurants at the bank of Sungai Tahan are no longer there. All five restaurants were swept away by strong currents during the floods.

The souvenir shops and tourism information office on the hill were not spared either. Only the steel-made office cabinets and parts of the building structure remain.

Budget chalets run by tourism operators were also destroyed. Some had only opened a few months ago.

According to the Jerantut Member of Parliament, Ahmad Nazlan Idris, only the road from Jerantut town to the Kuala Tahan tourist centre was still intact and passable to vehicles.

He said some 70% of the 2,000 people here were involved in the tourism sector.

“Only 30% of the villagers here have other jobs. The others who have made tourism their bread and butter are finding their daily life miserable and have nowhere to turn to,” Ahmad Nazlan said yesterday.

He said the water level started to rise on Dec 20 with continuous heavy rain.On Dec 25, a level of 79.70m was recorded at Kuala Tahan compared to the previous record of 74m in 2001.

At present, water supply in the whole area remains disrupted and most of the villagers are washing their clothes and dishes at another village which has water supply from a hill.

Mutiara Resort Taman Negara general manager Nathan Vaithi said they needed a few weeks to clean up and refurbish the place before they start accepting new bookings.

The Tourism Ministry’s Pahang office general manager, Idros Yahya, said his office was planning to organise a “gotong-royong” with his staff and other tourism operators in the state to clean up and rehabilitate the tourism centre in Kuala Tahan.

Taman Negara Tourists Guide Association chairman Zamri Mohd Amin said the immediate task for the Government was to reconnect the telecommunications and restore the water supply.