SUNSHINE STORIES

Group 4 of the Interim Steering Committee for Tun Mustapha Park (TMP) led by the District Office of Kudat, Kota Marudu and Pitas organized a dialogue with communities especially with the fishermen in Kg. Taritipan and Kg. Langkon Baru on the 7 July 2011. Over 50 people attended the dialogue including government agencies and NGO in each dialogue held. The dialogue held intended to update the community on the progress and status of TMP gazettement and also to obtain their feedback on the gazettement of TMP. Major concerns highlighted by the communities were fate of houses built on coastal areas in untitled land, fate of fishermen whose fishing area are near No-Take Zone , land application, status of gazettement of TMP, and area covered in TMP. The communities appreciate more of such dialogues held in the days to come to provide a platform for the communities to be involved and to be updated with the gazettement of TMP. All in all, they voiced out positive support for the gazettement of

One of the groups of people I had the privilege to work with was small-scale fishers, also described in literature as ‘artisanal fishers’. An artisan is basically a skilled manual worker and that is precisely what an artisanal fisher is. You might wonder what the big deal is but in a world where products are mass produced or extracted with machinery, the artisans are a dying breed and their products can fetch a pretty penny. But does an artisanal fisher earn a decent living and how are they perceived by society in general? I like using the gender-neutral term ‘fisher’ to describe these resilient, kind and generous people. Although men dominate this dangerous trade, women and even children are equally important contributors to the household. I once went out with a woman and her son to catch shrimp off the mangrove-lined coast of Langkawi. It was hard work through and through: back-breaking task of hauling in the gillnet; sorting the spiky shrimp; and to my horror, tossing out coun