IPOH, Dec 2 — The Local Government Development Ministry (KPKT) has given campsite operators a minimum of two years to comply with the Campsite Planning Guidelines (GPP) issued today.
Its minister Nga Kor Ming said the guidelines, which come into effect this month, are intended to guide the management and operation of campsites for the authorities, entrepreneurs, campsite operators, and the public.
“We made these guidelines not to punish anyone but to help existing and new campsite operators as we encountered feedback from those who do not know how to comply with the guidelines.
“The preparation of this GPP is due to the landslide tragedy at a campsite in Batang Kali, Selangor, on December 16 last year, which claimed 31 lives,” he said at a press conference after launching the GPP at Taman D.R Seenivasagam today.
Nga said the six guiding principles of campsite planning cover safety, comfort, sustainability, social continuity, economic prosperity, and legal compliance.
All six guidelines principles must be followed so visitors to licensed camping sites will feel assuredly safe. They include the requirement for camping sites to be at least 10 metres apart from waterfall areas.
He said the Town and Country Planning Department (PLANMalaysia) took four months to complete the GPP through a series of engagements and expert input-sharing sessions with agencies, including the Natural Resources, Environment, and Climate Change Ministry; the Tourism, Arts, and Culture Ministry, the Works Ministry, the local authorities, and 150 campsite operators nationwide.
Several things about GPP must be streamlined by KPKT, among them the need for assessment before a campsite is set up for operation, as well as an environmental impact assessment (EIA).
“There must also be strict regulation and management of campsites, with a scope of inspection and maintenance and grading requirements for tourist accommodation, which includes glamping campsites,” Nga said.
On December 16 last year, the landslide which occurred at 2.30am at the Father’s Organic Farm campsite in Batang Kali involved 92 campers, with 61 survivors and 31 casualties after the landslide buried the campsite.
Security personnel spent nine days in a search-and-rescue (SAR) operation at the scene to find victims buried in the landslide.
The tragedy was the second deadliest incident after the collapse of the Highland Towers Condominium in 1992, which claimed 48 lives.
— Bernama
