Sipitang

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Sipitang
District and Town
Esplanade Sipitang in Sipitang town.
Esplanade Sipitang in Sipitang town.
Official seal of Sipitang
Seal
Location of Sipitang
Sipitang is located in Borneo Topography
Sipitang
Sipitang
Coordinates: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Country  Malaysia
State  Sabah
Division Interior
Population (2010)
 • Total 34,862
Website www.sabah.gov.my/pd.sptg

Sipitang is a town, district and also a parliamentary constituency located in the Interior Division of Sabah, east Malaysia on the island of Borneo. The population of the district was 12,076 in 1980[1] and 24,349 in 1991. In 2000, the population grew to 29,256 while in 2010, 34,862.[2][3] It is the closest town in Sabah to the Sarawak border, and is 44 kilometres south of Beaufort and 144 kilometres south of Kota Kinabalu, the state capital.

Other than the Sipitang town center; Sipitang district is further divided into 3 sub-division; i.e. Mesapol, Sindumin and Melamam. Mesapol comprises at least 14 villages, which includes Kampung Melalia, Kampung Lubok Darat and Kampung Naluyan. Sindumin has 22 villages, among others are Kampung Mengalong, Kampung Banting and Kampung Siputol. Meanwhile, Malamam consists of at least 20 villages, e.g. Randulang, Long Mio and Long Pasia.[4]

History

Sipitang was a territory of the Brunei sultanate before 1884. On 5 November 1884, the Brunei Sultan ceded his territory, from Sipitang to Kuala Penyu, to British North Borneo Company (BNBC).[5] It is alleged that this agreement was met after excessive bribery by the BNBC Governor, William Treacher to the Sultan's court.[6]

Sultan of Brunei granted his territory, from Sipitang River to Trusan River, to BNBC on 7 September 1901.[7] In relation to that, BNBC acquired the area of Mengalong and Merantaman (now in Sipitang district) on 12 September 1901, through a grant by Pangiran Tengah Damit ibni al-Marhum Pangiran Anak Bongsu,[8] of his tulin right on those areas.[9] The acquisition of these areas was done separately because lands such as these are owned individually by Pangirans (princes and nobles) through their tulin right and therefore are independent of the authority of the sultan.[6]

Until 1900, the Sipitang River marked the frontier between British North Borneo and the Brunei sultanate. The acquisition of land from Sipitang River to Trusan River in 1901 led to the creation of a station in Sipitang under the administrative area called Clarke Province (named after Sir Andrew Clarke). This station came into being mainly for the purpose of seeking further cession of territories. Nevertheless, complications in the following years led to the reselling of some lands, and the demarcation receded to the present day Sabah-Sarawak border, near Mengalong (now Sindumin).

Geography

Sipitang district is located at the southwest portion of the state of Sabah. It is located between latitude 4°7' and 5°10' North and between longitude 115°25' and 115°37’ East. It spans an area of approximately 273,249.69 hectare.[10]

Sipitang district is located within a national and international route. Southern Sabah Federal Route 1 of the Pan Borneo Highway passes through this district, hence it can be reached from Beaufort from the north, Tenom from the east and Lawas, Sarawak from southwest. At the same time, the coastline stretches 16 km off Brunei Bay and is an entry point for travellers from Brunei Darussalam and Labuan Territory.

The district has a long coastline and has 4 main rivers flowing through it, that is the Lukutan river, Sipitang river, Mengalong river and Padas river.

The Crocker Range can also be seen from this district as it crosses the district from south to southwest. The presence of small hills and flat lands near the coastal area is one of the main reasons for the frequent floods in Sipitang during the monsoon season. This topography has also influenced the temperature and rainfall distribution of the district. At lower lands less than 1,524 meters, the temperature is around 28 °C – 34 °C, while the rainfall distribution in the lowlands is much lower than the highlands.

The geography of Sipitang depends on the area;

Kampung Banting Kampung Merintaman Kampung Pengiran Omar Kuala Mengalong Bandar Sipitang
Rain forest and village Forest and small village Forest which is near the river bank and a village Unknown Town and forest

Climate

Climate data for Sipitang
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 30
(86)		 30
(86)		 31
(88)		 32
(90)		 32
(90)		 32
(90)		 31
(88)		 32
(90)		 31
(88)		 31
(88)		 31
(88)		 31
(88)		 31.2
(88.3)
Average low °C (°F) 25
(77)		 25
(77)		 25
(77)		 25
(77)		 25
(77)		 25
(77)		 25
(77)		 25
(77)		 25
(77)		 25
(77)		 25
(77)		 25
(77)		 25
(77)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 136.5
(5.374)		 122.9
(4.839)		 98.8
(3.89)		 188
(7.4)		 243.5
(9.587)		 285.3
(11.232)		 273.4
(10.764)		 260.4
(10.252)		 285.4
(11.236)		 402.2
(15.835)		 318.9
(12.555)		 281.1
(11.067)		 2,896.4
(114.031)
Source: WorldWeatherOnline.com[11]

Economy

The major economic activities in Sipitang district are timber related. A pulp and paper mill plant was constructed in 1987 and is operated by Sabah Forest Industries, currently a subsidiary of Indian company, Ballarpur Industries Limited. Generally, these activities does not directly benefit the locals. Most of the locals are involved in subsistence farming and fishing.

The town is set to become one of Sabah's oil and gas industry centre following the state government's decision to build an oil and gas industrial park in Sipitang [12] and the national oil company - Petronas's decision to build Sabah ammonia and urea plant in this town.[13] The urea plant is planned to double Petronas's current total production capacity of urea to 2.6 million tonnes per annum (mtpa),[14] while the ammonia plant will produce 740,000 million metric tons per annum.[15]

Culture and Leisure

Culture

Sipitang town hosts the biennial GATA (Gasing and Tamu Besar) festival since 2003. This festival features cultural events such as traditional games, music and dance performances, mainly of the predominant indigenous group in Sipitang district, that is the Kedayan, Lundayeh/Lun Bawang, Murut and Brunei Malay.

Leisure and Conservation area

A 10 million project for the construction of an esplanade and a welcoming arch in Sipitang district was launched in 2007.[16] The esplanade and arch was completed in 2011.[17]

The villages of Long Pasia and Long Mio and their surrounding conservation area are located in Sipitang district. The Long Pasia area is one of the popular tourist destination in Sabah, which places among others, the Maga waterfall and Kerangas park.[18]

Other utilities

Healthcare

The first medical facility in Sipitang is a dispensary, established in the 1970s. This site was originally a rest house during the British colonial days. It provided limited medical services, among others are external patient service, maternal and infant care clinic, and tuberculosis and malaria control centre.

The current Sipitang Hospital is located off Sipitang-Mesapol road. It officially commenced operations on 10 April 1995.[19]

Education

Sipitang Library.

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See also: List of schools in Sabah

As of 2012, there are 3 secondary schools in Sipitang; SMK Pengiran Omar, SMK Pengiran Omar II and SMK Padang Berampah. These schools are all located in the vicinity of Sipitang town.[20] There are also 25 primary schools distributed sparsely over the district of Sipitang.[21]

Libraries:

Sipitang branch library is located in Sipitang town. The library is operated by the Sabah State Library department.[22] Other libraries or private libraries can be found in secondary and primary schools in Sipitang.

Demographics

Ethnic composition of Sipitang district in 2010 based on the Malaysia population census is as follows. The ethnic categorization in the official census is limited to 9 groups, as such, the predominant ethnic group in Sipitang such as Kedayan and Lun Bawang/Lundayeh are lumped as Other Bumiputra.[23]

  • Other Bumiputra - 13,724
  • Malay - 5,756
  • Murut including Lun Bawang/Lun Dayeh - 4,825
  • KadazanDusun - 3,988
  • Chinese - 1,265
  • Bajau - 972
  • Indian - 59
  • Others - 1419
  • Non-Malaysian Citizens - 3,756

A more localised demographic is given in Sidik (2004), which states that Sipitang district's population is 60% Kedayan, 25% Murut including Lun Bawang/Lun Dayeh, 5% Brunei Malay, and the remaining Chinese.[24]

References

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  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=51842
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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