Homestay plan to draw tourists

http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2010/3/12/sarawak/5837846&sec=sarawak

Friday March 12, 2010

Homestay plan to draw tourists

By ZORA CHAN
zora@thestar.com.my

A HOMESTAY programme is in the offing at Pulau Larapan, one of the 49 islands off Semporna, Sabah.

Researchers from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas), Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) are collaborating to help the villagers kickstart the homestay programme.

Villagers will be trained in ICT so that they can use the village’s telecentre, eLarapan, to promote the homestay programme worldwide, said eLarapan project leader Dr Mohd Faizal Syam Abdol Hazis.

eLarapan is a replica of a community ICT project in Sarawak’s highlands of Bario called eBario. Unimas’ Centre of Excellence for Rural Informatics (CoERI) is implementing eLarapan.

“We are developing a business model for the people, which is a homestay programme that will involve the whole community.

“Ten houses have been identified for the programme.

“Visitors will have to book rooms online,” he said in Kuching recently.

He said the telecentre with three laptops, three desktops and a VSAT satellite would be powered by solar energy.

Although scenic, Larapan is one of the poorest islands off Semporna. From Tawau, it takes an hour to reach Semporna and from Semporna, it is a half-hour boat ride to the island.

Populated by the Bajau, the island has two villages — Kampung Larapan Hujung and Kampung Larapan Tengah. The island has about 1,365 residents.

The main economic activity is fishing while a handful of the locals work at pearl farms nearby. Many women in Pulau Larapan are into small-scale tapioca farming to support their families.

Dr Faizal said the villagers lacked health services, depended on generators for electricity and travelled to mainland Semporna to buy water for washing and drinking.

He said the island had a lot to offer in terms of tourism and hoped that the telecentre could be of help in improving the people’s livelihood.

“Villagers will eventually be taught how to communicate with their children who are studying in Semporna using the telecentre,” he said, adding that the island’s primary school only provided education up to Primary Three.