08/04/2026

WEDNESDAY | APR 8, 2026

6

Paradise lost in Semporna

designated outlets and dive with imported instructors. Local operators are often cut out entirely. “In the past, we were the service providers. Now we are being pushed to the edges, watching the money flow past,” he said. The Malaysia Scuba Diving Association has also raised concerns over a surge of illegal and unregistered foreign dive instructors operating in Sabah waters. Its president, Aminor Azmi Abdul Latip described “Ali Baba” arrangements where locals hold licences on paper while foreign operators run the business – undercutting certified Malaysian instructors trained through state-backed programmes. Beyond livelihoods, he warned of a growing safety risk, with compromised training standards potentially endangering lives. Sabah Tourism Minister Datuk Jafry Ariffin has acknowledged the risk of Semporna becoming an enclave economy – where profits flow out while local communities see little return. A task force has since been established to regulate the industry more systematically. The scale of the challenge is significant. Of the 190 tourism premises identified in Semporna, only 45 hold valid licences. Eighty-six are operating without proper compliance, including having certified sewage systems. In blunt terms, some luxury villas are discharging untreated waste directly into the sea.

o Beyond postcard-perfect reefs lies pollution, stateless communities and foreign-controlled tourism that could jeopardise island’s future, say dive professionals

SEMPORNA: The glossy brochures sell it as paradise – crystalline waters, kaleidoscopic coral reefs and world class dive sites just a speedboat ride from shore. For scuba divers and snorkellers worldwide, Semporna on Sabah’s southeastern coast remains a dream destination. But the reality begins at the mainland jetties. The air smells of diesel. Plastic waste drifts across the water’s surface. Veteran dive instructor Aquila Chu, 41, has a standing piece of advice for his international clients: close your eyes, board the boat and do not look until you reach the islands. For those working in Semporna’s tourism trade, the pollution is impossible to ignore. Divemaster Yong Lip Khiong points to a grim irony – discarded plastic bottles have become makeshift habitats for marine life, the very ecosystem tourists travel thousands of miles to see and which sustains the local economy. Blame, however, has long been directed at the Bajau Laut community, who live in water villages

off Semporna’s coast. A 2024 survey by the Eastern Sabah Security Command estimated that of the roughly 28,000 Bajau Laut residents, fewer than 6,200 hold Malaysian citizenship, leaving the majority stateless and largely excluded from public services. Chu rejects the scapegoating. “You cannot expect a community without access to clean drinking water to champion marine conservation,” he said, arguing that the issue is not awareness but the absence of basic infrastructure. Fisherman Otoh Lasa, 68, who has spent his entire life in Kampung Air, frames the shift over decades. In the past, waste – fish bones, banana leaves, tapioca peels – was biodegradable and naturally absorbed by the sea. Plastic arrived with modernisation but the systems to manage it never followed. What the Bajau Laut are asking for is basic: scheduled waste collection for water villages, public bins at jetties and access to piped water to reduce reliance on single-use plastic bottles. Without clean water, those bottles will continue to accumulate in the

Jafry said while Semporna’s beauty endures, there is a risk of the island becoming an enclave economy where profits flow out while local communities see little return. – BERNAMAPIC

February that 81 accommodation premises in the district are largely operated by foreign companies, some entirely so, with locals acting only as nominal licence holders. For local charter boat operator Azman, 45, the impact is immediate. His business now depends largely on independent travellers and backpackers – the margins left behind by a market increasingly dominated by vertically integrated foreign operators. He describes a familiar chain: tourists arrive in Tawau, board foreign-owned transport, stay in foreign-managed resorts, dine at

sea, reported Bernama. In the absence of consistent government intervention, civil society has stepped in. Last October, youths from Skuad Anak Sabah made history by collecting a staggering 8,833.80kg of trash in Semporna. It was recognised by the Malaysia Book of Records as the heaviest waste collection by an NGO in Malaysia. Yet the environmental strain is only one side of the crisis. Semporna generates significant tourism revenue, but much of it does not stay in Sabah. Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali revealed in

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