Riverside Majestic Hotel Kuching and Miri Marriot Resort and Spa were among the 86 hotels across the Asean region to receive the prestigious Asean Green Hotel Award 2014 yesterday. The bi-annual award ceremony which is held in conjunction with the Asean Tourism Forum (ATF) 2014 held at Pullman Hotel also saw another eight hotels from Malaysia receiving the recognition.
“This award is presented to hotels which adhere to green and sustainable practices, are environmentally friendly and adopt energy conservation measures based on the criteria and requirements in the Asean Green Hotel Standard,” said Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz.
He also said the primary objective of the award is to provide the well-deserved recognition to hotels that go beyond conventional practices and embark on green and environment friendly measures in support of responsible tourism.
Green and sustainable practices? Environmentally friendly? Are these really words to describe Sarawak’s notoriously environmentally unfriendly Chief Minister Taib Mahmud?
In the early 1990s Taib’s acquisitive eyes fell upon one of the city’s prime sites by the sea, Taman Selara. This was the gracious area occupied for over a hundred years by the traditional Residency, the District Officer’s house and the District Medical Officer’s house. The three buildings were classic heritage buildings that defined the town and they adjoined a public park – all in a prime part of the city. Taib grabbed 20 acres of this public recreation land for himself in order to develop what is now the Miri Marriott Hotel.
The company, to which the site was then given for a nominal amount, is Majupun Sdn Bhd. The Directors of Majupun are Taib’s sister Raziah, her Australian-Lebanese husband and Taib’s daughter Hanifah. Once again the shareholders of Majupan are two Taib family-owned companies, Noble Strike Sdn Bhd, and Bakraz Holdings. Once again the Chief Minister himself holds a substantial interest in the companies through his shareholding in Mesti Bersatu, Miri Properties and Kumpulan Parabena!