Beaufort

1.0 LOCAL CULTURE

Beaufort is a town and district located in Interior Division of Sabah in east Malaysia on the island of Borneo. The population was estimated to be around 61,698 in 2000. And now, the total population is increasing simultaneously which is estimated to be around 85,000 in 2009. Nevertheless, it is originally set up to help economic development of the interior of Sabah, its early prosperity was closely linked to rubber cultivation. During World War II, it was the site of one of the most skirmishes of the war between Japanese and Australians. However, its current prosperity depends on the booming palm oil industry.

Figure 1.1: North Borneo Railway Station.

Beaufort is a stop on the North Borneo Railway operated by Sutera Harbour Resort. The railway station in Beaufort dates 1905 and normal daily service is operated by the Sabah State Railway Department (Figure 1.1). Medical services are provided by the 140 bedded government hospitals which have primary care and basic secondary care services. There are a few private practitioners within the town area.

Beaufort is usually visited by tourists for the white-water rafting through the nearby Padas Gorge on the Padas River which is rated as a Grade 2 to 4 river. Plus, the open-air market which is known as tamu by the local is held weekly on every Friday evening until Saturday afternoon. Local produce such as fresh fruits, vegetable, fresh meat and live poultry are sold. The days of this weekly community occasion differ from district to district. Beaufort oranges are very famous and they are featured as 3 large orange sculptures in the centre of town (Figure 1.2).

Figure 1.2: (Left) The 3 large orange sculptures in the centre of town.

2.0 LOCAL COMPARISON

Two general locations which is circled in yellow colour - Beafort Jaya area (left side of Padas River from the Figure 1.3) and Pekan Beaufort area (right side of the Padas River from Figure 1.3). The four basic criteria over the most preferable location from these two are flood crisis, local population, facilities and development possibility as shown in Table 1.4.

Figure 1.3: Google map – Beaufort County’s satellite map.

Table 1.4: Differences between Beaufort Jaya and Pekan Beaufort.

Figure 1.5: Flood in Pekan Beaufort during 2006

Figure 1.6: Flood in Pekan Beaufort in 2006.

From Table 1.4 of previous page, it is suggested to buy an empty land to develop in Beaufort Jaya area because the advantages of this area are greater than Pekan Beaufort area in terms of flood crisis, local population, development possibility and facilities. The facilities available in Beaufort are located as shown in Figure 1.7.

Figure 1.7: Facilities of Beaufort County.