Kundasang Memorial Park

No Plan To Demolish War Memorial

The State Government has no intention to demolish or relocate the War Memorial in Kundasang.

"The Memorial is not being demolished. In fact, a section of the wall has a high chance of collapsing, which will jeopardise the safety of pedestrians.

Hence, action was taken to repair and strengthen it to reduce the risk of having anyone getting injured due to its current condition," explained Tourism, Culture and Environment, Datuk Masidi Manjun, here, Wednesday.

"I want to take this opportunity to confirm to the people of Sabah, especially the community living in that district, not to worry about the current repair works being done there.

"We are not there to demolish the Memorial, we are there to repair and strengthen its foundation for the safety of all."

According to Masidi, geological movements in the Kundasang area had caused a section of the wall in the Contemplation Garden to crack.


The wall has a high chance of collapsing, hence repair works are necessary to avoid any untoward incidents from happening, he said.

"In 2000, the maintenance and preservation of the Memorial was privatised to a companyÉ a private company called Savee currently handles it," he said.

"Before its privatisation, the maintenance management of the Memorial was changing hands from one government department to another.

Hence, the State Government decided to privatise the Memorial to someone who really knows how to maintain and preserve the Memorial."

The Memorial was built based on donations collected by family members of World War Two victims from Australia, Britain, New Zealand and the State Government.

Until now, they continue to contribute donations to maintain the Memorial," said Masidi.

Meanwhile, the Ministry's Permanent Secretary, Datuk Michael Emban, and Datuk Matius Sator, who is Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Local Government and Housing, visited the site to inspect the upgrading and improvement works being done.

"It is necessary to provide granular materials such as sand at the base and the back of the retaining wall, to facilitate water drainage.

"It is important to reduce the structural weight of the wall.

To do these works, it is necessary to remove the existing masonry wall," said one of the engineers in a statement.

Visitors to the Memorial are urged to bear with the ongoing upgrading works, which are expected to be completed by mid-August.

Story Arrangement By: Harry George
Sources: Sabah Tourism and Daily Express
Picture: Sabah Heritage And Tourism