Malaysia's first turtle gallery.

Date: 27 November, 2012

Malaysia's first turtle gallery.

PORT DICKSON: Negeri Sembilan will soon have a colossal turtle statue to greet visitors, which will give a major boost to the tourism industry in the country. Unlike the renowned eagle statue in Langkawi, the turtle structure would not only serve as a monument but also as a gallery that visitors could tour.

State executive councillor in charge of culture, arts, heritage and Malay customs, Datuk Mohammad Radzi Kail, said the Turtle Sculpture Gallery project was still on the drawing board and would be presented to the Tourism Ministry next month.

He said the RM10 million gallery, a collaboration between Port Dickson Municipal Council and Glory Beach Resort, would be the first of its kind in the world once completed. "There is no such gallery in the world. It is hoped that it would be a state landmark."

Radzi said the gallery was part of continuing efforts by the Glory Beach Resort to help protect and conserve endangered turtles. For the past three years, the hotel has been conducting a turtle rehabilitation programme, in which locals and visitors can curb the extinction of turtles by rescuing its eggs from poachers and placing them in a hatchery.

"The gallery would be built overlooking the beach of Tanjung Gemuk here, near the hatchery," said Radzi. "It is aimed at educating the public on the importance of saving the species from the threat of extinction while encouraging them to participate in the cause." He added that visitors could take part in releasing hatchlings into the sea.

The Glory Beach Resort hatchery, set up in June 2010, has recorded a 74 per cent success rate in its hatching programme and thus far has released 3,200 hawksbill turtles into the sea. The programme was conceived after the Rantau Abang Turtle and Marine Ecosystem Centre discovered turtle tracks along the beaches here.

Radzi said once the gallery was completed, it would be able to attract people from all over the world to Port Dickson to study the species of turtles found here, such as leather back, green, hawksbill and Olive Ridley. Glory Beach Resort general manager Isaac Mohan Raj said the gallery would feature a aquarium, where the four species of turtles would be displayed for public viewing. "The aquarium will be connected to a pond where the turtles could lay eggs." There would also be an auditorium providing information and posters on turtles, in addition to a restaurant overlooking the sea, he added.

By MAIZATUL RANAI | maizatulranai@nst.com.my 

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