BAKO NATIONAL PARK STILL A POPULAR TOURIST DESTINATION IN SARAWAK

KUCHING (Malaysia), Jan 2 (Bernama) -- East Malaysia state of Sarawak's
oldest national park, the Bako National Park, continues to be a popular
destination for local and foreign tourists in the state, receiving an average of
80 visitors daily, Sarawak Forestry Department director Len Talif Saleh said
Thursday.

He said 31,000 tourists, with 70 per cent of them foreigners, visited the
national park last year. The Bako forest was gazetted as a national park in
1957.

"We believe the number of visitors to the park will increase to 100 people a
day this year," he told Bernama at the Kampung Bako jetty near the national
park here.

Earlier, Len, who is also Sarawak Forestry Corporation chief executive
officer, presented souvenirs contributed by the Association of the Bako National
Park Tourist Boat Owners to the first 30 tourists to arrive at the park
Thursday.

The function was held in conjunction with the New Year celebration.

Len said infrastructure facilities, including clean water supply, at the
national park would be repaired and upgraded and that the federal government had
approved a RM3.2 million allocation for the purpose. (US$1=RM3.48)
--BERNAMA