Penampang folk want imperiled Kasigui 'town' and century-old rain trees preserved

The remnants of Kasigui and its rain trees needs to be preserved as an heritage site, says local resident Eric Ye, who is a landscape artist.

KOTA KINABALU: Kasigui was a tiny colonial settlement in Sabah's Kadazandusun heartland of Penampang about 10km from the state capital here.

The little trading post that derived its name from the native kasigui tree has now fallen far from its heyday as the go-to "town" for people in the district.

The more modern township of Donggongon – a hop, skip and a jump away – has taken the spotlight away from Kasigui.

All that is left of Kasigui now is a small marketplace, a coffee shop and five rain trees estimated to be between 80 to 100 years old.

Nostalgia is now fuelling a social media campaign to save what is left of the trading post, which has been earmarked for demolition to make way for a proposed road expansion.

Kasigui native Eric Ye, a landscape architect, wants the district council to preserve the trees and the marketplace that sit on a 0.2ha (half-acre) site close to the Moyog River.

"I believe they should make a proper assessment of the rain trees and take an overall look at road expansion plans for the area.

Eric Ye

"A revised road alignment could help enlarge the Kasigui Heritage area," he said after inspecting the trees that might have to be cut down if the road expansion proceeds.

Ye said, however, that four of the trees were not in good health as their roots had limited space to spread.

"The main trunks of the trees have developed large cavities, reflecting their poor health," he said.

"The area for the rain trees (to grow) is just too tight for their survival over several more decades.

"Only one tree looks healthy. Efforts must be made to save the trees as they could be in danger of collapsing sooner or later," he said, adding that arboriculturists have to be called in.

He also hoped that the remainder of the trading post should be retained as a heritage site and pointed out that the trees had provided shade and shelter for generations of villagers who came down the river to trade.

Ye, 60, said his grandparents owned a grocery shop in an old wooden double-storey shophouse block that burned down in the 1980s.

"I remember people bringing their latex sheets in boats to Kasigui, from where they were taken by road to the Putatan rubber factory.

"Children would meet up and play around Kasigui. It was the main 'town' of Penampang," he said, adding that the rain trees were planted in Colonial times to provide shade.

The native kasigui trees have long since disappeared, Ye lamented.

Based on a notice from the Public Works Department (JKR), the trading post fell within a proposed road expansion linking Donggongon and Jalan Panglima Banting junction along the Donggongon-Tambunan road.

According to the Chief Minister's political secretary Ceasar Mandela Malakun, JKR said it had no immediate plans to cut down any trees.

However, he said the community's concerns were noted and he would raise the matter with JKR again.