World attraction in a sorry state

Canopy view: The 925m-long Sungai Sedim Tree Top Walk in Kedah was said to be the longest in the world before Germany’s one surpassed it. — CHAN BOON KAI/The Star

ALOR SETAR: Regarded a state-of-the-art attraction when it opened in 2006, the Sungai Sedim Tree Top Walk is now in a sorry state with no proper maintenance of its facilities.

The canopy walk, with its structure made entirely of steel, is believed to be the longest in Asia.

Located within the Sungai Sedim Recreation Park, the Tree Top Walk took 14 months to build at a cost of about RM8mil and was completed in March 2005 before it opened to the public a year later.

When it launched, the 925m-long treetop walkway in the Gunung Inas rainforest reserve was reported to be the longest in the world before the Baumwipfelpfad treetop walk in the Bavarian Forest National Park in Neuschonau, Germany surpassed the record as the world’s longest at 1,300m.

Tourism operator Mohd Zuber Abu Bakar said the Tree Top Walk, which offered a tranquil experience of walking in the forest while overlooking magnificent views of the forest reserve, was left unkempt with many of its facilities not maintained or upgraded.

“The place looks run down and abandoned. Many of its facilities were not maintained properly.

“People in Sungai Sedim are proud that their area was placed on the world tourism map but the place has now become an eyesore.

“It became worse when the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country, ” he added.

Mohd Zuber, 50, who runs a tour agency and a hotel in the area, said the operator of the Tree Top Walk must be responsible for upgrading the place so that it could attract more visitors.

The Tree Top Walk, which is just one-and-a-half hour’s drive from George Town, belongs to the Kedah state government and has been managed by Syarikat Perusahaan Azam Travel Sdn Bhd, a private company, since 2006.

Its assistant manager Mohd Rafis Yahya denied the place was in bad condition.

“We did our best to keep it clean and manageable for visitors.

“The company conducts daily and monthly maintenance of the canopy walk and other facilities, ” he said.

Mohd Rafis, however, said since the implementation of the movement control order last year, many of the attraction’s upgrading projects had to be put on hold, adding that it was closed to the public for the time being.