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Y. Rasyid
pleted their education till they were 12 years old. Without any electricity, the school
faces many challenges in maintaining its operations. Currently, the community relies
on diesel-powered generators for electricity. Renewable sources of energy are absent
and as such, majority of the households (including the school) are without electricity.
Due to its distance from the mainland, there is no treated piped water supplied to the
island as such the community relies on ground water resources. However, the ground
water resources have been reported by an NGO, Arkitrek (GEF-SGP UNDP 2013) to
be severely contaminated with E. coli as there is an absence of sewage treatment facilities on the island. The current method of sewage disposal on a household level has
contaminated groundwater resources. This has resulted in the community resorting
to purchasing bottled water from the mainland, which adds on to their daily expenditure on the island. The improper management of sewage from the land has also
been reported to be one of the key threats on the surrounding coral reef population
(Reef Check Malaysia 2015) which results in poorer maritime water quality.
Transportation to and from the island is intermittent and due to the distance
between Pulau Mantanani and the mainland in Kota Belud, there has been many
reported incidences of capsize due to erratic weather conditions. During the research
period, the community did not have access to telecommunication facilities and only
selected community members could afford satellite phones. Since the early 2000s,
several NGO interventions have been initiated on the island with the local community however many of the interventions remain underutilized by the local community.
Despite the continuous efforts of NGO interventions in ensuring that the sustainable
livelihood of the local community is addressed, many of the interventions have failed
to ensure that the development of alternative and sustainable livelihoods is attained.
Tourism development in Pulau Mantanani was first observed in the existence
of tour operators on the island few years back and since, has rapidly progressed
(Jaafar et al. 2016). Jaafar et al. (2016) noted that the intense tourism development
has affected the local communities’ such as commodification, adaptation to tourist’s
demands and it alters the local identity because of the increasing number of accommodations. The current government initiated high-impact tourism development program on the island has also affected the lives of the local Bajau Ubian community
both in a positive and negative way. While the locals welcome some potential extra
income in their lives, the frequency of the income is irregular. What is noted by the
researchers is that the local Bajau Ubian community is concerned about the threat
of foreign culture and values on their local traditional culture and values. Other
researchers like Noor et al. (2017) noted that the local Bajau Ubian community is
motivated to explore entrepreneurship due to the potential economic benefits that can
be gained from being an entrepreneur. Some of the potential areas for entrepreneurship development have been identified by Noor et al. (2017) for the local community
include homestay development, small business (guiding, snorkelling) based on natural resources, local handicrafts and cultural programs, and community volunteerism
for corporates, however the authors noted that the local community require support
in order to facilitate the adoption of entrepreneurship on the island. Some of these
supports include infrastructural facilities and also skills and capacity development
programs.
Y. Rasyid
pleted their education till they were 12 years old. Without any electricity, the school
faces many challenges in maintaining its operations. Currently, the community relies
on diesel-powered generators for electricity. Renewable sources of energy are absent
and as such, majority of the households (including the school) are without electricity.
Due to its distance from the mainland, there is no treated piped water supplied to the
island as such the community relies on ground water resources. However, the ground
water resources have been reported by an NGO, Arkitrek (GEF-SGP UNDP 2013) to
be severely contaminated with E. coli as there is an absence of sewage treatment facilities on the island. The current method of sewage disposal on a household level has
contaminated groundwater resources. This has resulted in the community resorting
to purchasing bottled water from the mainland, which adds on to their daily expenditure on the island. The improper management of sewage from the land has also
been reported to be one of the key threats on the surrounding coral reef population
(Reef Check Malaysia 2015) which results in poorer maritime water quality.
Transportation to and from the island is intermittent and due to the distance
between Pulau Mantanani and the mainland in Kota Belud, there has been many
reported incidences of capsize due to erratic weather conditions. During the research
period, the community did not have access to telecommunication facilities and only
selected community members could afford satellite phones. Since the early 2000s,
several NGO interventions have been initiated on the island with the local community however many of the interventions remain underutilized by the local community.
Despite the continuous efforts of NGO interventions in ensuring that the sustainable
livelihood of the local community is addressed, many of the interventions have failed
to ensure that the development of alternative and sustainable livelihoods is attained.
Tourism development in Pulau Mantanani was first observed in the existence
of tour operators on the island few years back and since, has rapidly progressed
(Jaafar et al. 2016). Jaafar et al. (2016) noted that the intense tourism development
has affected the local communities’ such as commodification, adaptation to tourist’s
demands and it alters the local identity because of the increasing number of accommodations. The current government initiated high-impact tourism development program on the island has also affected the lives of the local Bajau Ubian community
both in a positive and negative way. While the locals welcome some potential extra
income in their lives, the frequency of the income is irregular. What is noted by the
researchers is that the local Bajau Ubian community is concerned about the threat
of foreign culture and values on their local traditional culture and values. Other
researchers like Noor et al. (2017) noted that the local Bajau Ubian community is
motivated to explore entrepreneurship due to the potential economic benefits that can
be gained from being an entrepreneur. Some of the potential areas for entrepreneurship development have been identified by Noor et al. (2017) for the local community
include homestay development, small business (guiding, snorkelling) based on natural resources, local handicrafts and cultural programs, and community volunteerism
for corporates, however the authors noted that the local community require support
in order to facilitate the adoption of entrepreneurship on the island. Some of these
supports include infrastructural facilities and also skills and capacity development
programs.