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25th August, 2008
KOTA KINABALU: The Kota Kinabalu City Heritage Walk continued to attract the crowds.
Yesterday, the event was held for the third consecutive year with almost 2,000 people taking part.
This is almost triple from the number of participants who joined the walk, said to have a unique potential to be promoted as a tourism attraction, last year.
The programme organised by the Council of Churches Sabah and City Hall was flagged off from Padang Merdeka from which participants took a 3.1 km route along the oldest street in Kota Kinabalu.
Launching the ceremony was City Hall Director General Datuk Dr Chua Kim Heng. Also present was the Council’s president Pastor Jerry Dusing.
Similar to previous year, participants were brought to visit the few remaining historical sites and structures that have survived through the pre-war, post-war and pre-independence era.
Among them include the Atkinson Clock Tower, Australia Place, Sabah Tourism Building, Jesselton Hotel, Gaya Street, Pocket Park, Malaysia Monument, North Borneo War Memorial and the City Hall.
The walk which started at around 4pm took approximately two and a half hours before returning back to Padang Merdeka. Along the way, participants were provided by walk guides with interesting commentary on the place they visited.
The programme held in conjunction with the celebration of the 51st Independence Day also saw funds being collected for the Prison Fellowship, a welfare body dedicated to help prisoners in their rehabilitation process.
Mayor Datuk Iliyas Ibrahim in his speech said the programme is hoped to be continued in future as it help expose the younger generation and outsiders to the City’s legacy and heritage.
Equally important, it helps promote patriotism and harmony among the multiracial people in the City, he added.
He also urged the organiser to use their programme as platform to help Kota Kinabalu achieve litter-free status by incorporating cleanliness awareness activities into the event.
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