On behalf of Parti Warisan Sabah, I express our deepest condolences to the deceased families and victims of the Mengalum tragedy.

The Warisan Sabah team visited Queen Elizabeth Hospital 1 to show concerns to the victims’ families, but sadly they were in the process of relocating the ward rooms of the victims so they were unable to meet face to face.

I sent my condolences to the Chinese deceased families and Mengalum victims through the honorable Chinese consul-general Chen Pei Jie when we bumped into her together with Assistant Tourism Minister Pang Nyuk Ming at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital 1 main lobby.

I emphasise that Warisan Sabah was very concerned about Sabah tourism industry because this sector is one of our Sabah's main rice bowls and many people’s livelihood depended on it.

This tragedy should not have happened if there were more stringent precautionary measures to ensure compliance with laws and to curb illegal tour activities.

It was reported that non-functioning life jackets was among the many reasons why the tragedy happened. It was also reported that an illegal jetty was used, ignoring all standards of operational safety.

I was told by tourism stakeholders that similar incidents have happened too many times over the past few years.

Tourism authorities like the state Tourism Ministry, the federal Tourism and Culture Ministry and relevant authorities have to ensure that those responsible pay for this.

Tourism authorities would have to ensure it is mandatory for all boat operators to be equipped with safety features, and this should be made a law.

After so many incidents, now the question is what are we going to do to ensure safety is being given utmost priority for the rest of the operators from today onwards.

Do we have a standard operating procedure (SOP) for this particular business? Maybe clear guidance must be given to all tour operators.

If they have a SOP, such incidents should not happen frequently.

If they have a SOP, are operators bound by the law? I seriously propose that these operators should be and will be held responsible when they don’t comply.

Even if there is a SOP, have relevant authorities and enforcement done regular inspections and check-ups to ensure all safety equipment are in order and all laws are complied with?

This is important to have a clear guidance to make sure operators comply.

Sabah relies very much on the tourism industry and we have to be very careful with people who are in this business for quick profit.

We must implement more stringent measures for tour operators to comply with SOP requirements and safety laws to protect our Sabah tourism industry.

JUNZ WONG is vice-president of Parti Warisan Sabah and state assemblyperson for Likas.