KOTA KINABALU, Oct 8 — Several dive and resort operators based in Semporna are objecting to the state authorities’ recent move to increase the number of diving permits around Sipadan.
The Semporna Professional Divers Association said its members are unhappy with manager and custodian Sabah Parks for what it deemed to be arbitrary decisions last August.
The group said that in the last two years, the 176 permits were shared by 24 operators but that the management committee abruptly decided to add 13 more companies to conduct dives around the underwater paradise.
“This would obviously only lead to a bad impact of marine life in Sipadan.
“The 24 operators that we had were already impacting the marine environment on Sipadan, what more if we have 37 operators? That’s akin to around 254 visitors/ divers per day. We might not be among the list of top 10 dive site in the world anymore,” it said in a statement last week.
The group questioned the reason for the additional permits, and asked for an explanation of the application process.
“Did they apply to be included in the permit sharing? Did they apply for it long time ago? Did the authorities agree to increase the number of permits at the expense of the environment?”
Semporna is widely known as the jump-off point to many beautiful islands including the world-famous Sipadan.
The east coast Sabah town easily houses over 150 dive outfits, most of them without a certification standard like Professional Association of Diving Instructors (Padi) or the National Association of Underwater Instructors (Naui).
An operator who spoke to Malay Mail on condition of anonymity disclosed that Sabah Parks had recently invited the 24 existing operators to a meeting to announce the new restrictions for the permits. The 13 new operators were also invited.
The new restrictions dictate that only scuba divers with Advanced Open Water (AOW) certification would be allowed, dives were restricted to two a day; no repeats of the same dive sites (for example, Barracuda Point can only have 50 divers maximum at a time); and allowing a dive guide a maximum of five divers, among others.
The dive permits have also seen a hike in fees from RM140 to RM250 for Malaysians and RM350 for foreigners.
This excludes the conservation fee of RM50 for Malaysians and RM100 for non-Malaysians. The new fee is effective from January 2023.
Other current dive operators whom Malay Mail spoke with also expressed similar discontent at having to share the proverbial pie with newcomers to the scene.
“They hit us with the announcement that only divers with AOW licences are allowed, among others. This does not make sense. Some Open Water divers have hundreds of dives under their belt, and are far more experienced than those holding the AOW, which only takes nine dives to obtain.
“This is an arbitrary rule that is not practical. Also, to give us barely a week’s notice. Some have sold packages to divers abroad and imagine having to tell them that they can longer dive here?” complained one operator who also requested anonymity.
Others complain of a lack of transparency in the decision making, claiming that some dive outfits have operated for years without being granted permits to dive Sipadan while others have not even set up operations and were given a share of permits.
“There needs to be some standard or criteria, or else it just looks political. Anyone with the right connections can get it,” a Sipadan dive operator said.
Clement Lee, a former course director with the Professional Association of Diving Instructors and veteran of Sabah’s diving industry, holds the same opinion on this particular new ruling.
“I know many people who have dived all the over the world, for decades and have accumulated thousands of dives but on an Open Water licence. The licence alone does not dictate one’s skill,” he told Malay Mail.
Lee, who used to be part owner of Borneo Divers that was situated on Sipadan, asked if the authorities had carried out research before deciding at what number to cap the dives to protect the marine environment there.
“Back when they first started the permit system, it was 120 permits and four dives per permit per person. So that's 480 dives per day. I would hope that they arrived at that number through research and data and not plucked it out of the sky.
“So even with that, they eventually reduced it to three dives per permit but increased the number of permits to 176, increasing the number of dives to 528. Now it would seem that its 254 permits, but limited to two dives a day, which is still about 508 dives per day.
“Can the island sustain that? It would be good if they clarified that so the operators can understand the basis of their decision making,” Lee said.
Lee, who remains an avid diver even now, said that there was nothing wrong with wanting to open up the island to smaller shareholders, but stressed that there must be some regulation as to how permits are given.
“Perhaps they should appoint a consortium to work out a sharing basis so they can regulate who gets what, when evenly and monitor their performance. Or maybe limit each dive site to a few boats only with an anchor buoy. So if there's already, say, five boats there, no one can enter until someone leaves,” he said.
Lee said it would be prudent for the authorities and stakeholders to meet and discuss the matter reasonably and find an amicable solution.
“If a better solution can be found that meets the aim of protecting the island, they should take up the suggestions. In this industry, everyone needs to be supportive of each other.
“Ultimately, they are on the same page. If they don’t protect the island now, there will be nothing to protect in the future,” he said.
