KOTA BELUD: Kampung Terintidon is set by the backdrop of Mount Kinabalu in Kadamaian here.
It is blessed with all the potentials that can be transformed into a tourist village as its environment is well-maintained.
The heartwarming villagers also formed a close-knit to make visitors always feel like home during the visit.
The villagers initiated their own tourism activities to let visitors explore the entire hamlet by setting up various points for them to enjoy the sights and sounds of their traditional culture.
The village had drawn up a organisational chart to divide them into seven community groups.
Each with its own committee charged with maintaining harmony, and cleanliness, and encouraging the development of various tourism-related activities like adventure, culture, agriculture, education, food, and handicraft.
Recently, Assistant Tourism, Culture, and Environment Minister cum Sabah Tourism Board chairman Datuk Joniston Bangkuai went there to inspect the tourism opportunities.
He was accompanied by the Federation of Rural Tourism Association of Sabah (FeRTAS) president cum Kadamaian Tourism Association president Walter Kandayon, and Kadamaian Community Development leader Demis Rumanti.
“I am impressed with the unity shown by villagers in the effort to beautify and develop the village to its full potential. The addition of tourism-related activities would further invigorate this village and position it as a must-visit rural tourism destination.
“The Sabah Tourism Board is always willing to assist rural communities in growing their tourism potential, and I hope that Kampung Terintidon will serve as a model for other communities to emulate,“ said Joniston.
He also encouraged the community to work with the Sabah Tourism product team to effectively package the rural village to promote it to both locals and tourists.
Kampung Terintidon was praised for its cleanliness drive during a recent Board meeting focusing on rural tourism, following a proposal by FeRTAS to run a cleanup campaign in rural villages.
According to Walter, the success of Kampung Terintidon’s initiatives to clean up their particular village with community engagement has motivated FeRTAS to lead the drive to free rural communities of rubbish by 2025.
This fits with the goal and plans to make Sabah a world-class destination for rural tourism by 2030.
If the clean-up objective is met, Walter said rural communities will be modernised into a desirable place to live and visit, complete with amenities like toilets that meet international standards.
