Ignoring Diver Safety: Borneo Divers Tells It Like It Isn'tPowered by CYBER DIVER News Network
by NATHAN PARRY-DAVIES
Soon after Muslim rebels attacked Sipadan Island and took 21 dive tourists and resort staff hostage, Clement Lee and Steve Fish of Borneo Divers launched a business-as-usual campaign designed to lure divers back to Sipadan. The media-bashing campaign, which remained on the internet until the second attack on Pandanan dive resort near Sipadan, exemplifies a growing tendency in the diving industry to deliberately conceal problems that pose a threat to the safety and well-being of dive travelers. Standard operating procedure is to lash out at the media and dismiss news reports as inaccurate and exaggerated. While press reports are rarely if ever 100% accurate, we all know they get much closer to the truth than the travel industry, which aims to filter out any and all disagreeable elements that detract from the "paradise" theme. From Borneo Divers: "Is Diving in Sipadan Safe" Safety on Sipadan: Facts and Fiction by Steve Fish (Borneo Video & Photo Center/Borneo Divers) Borneo Divers: "After the April 2000 kidnapping of 21 persons from Sipadan, many divers have been concerned about the safety and security of Sipadan and the surrounding islands. Adding to the confusion, have been conflicting reports in the media, and a lot of purely bogus information. So here are some FAQ's regarding Security, and a few outright myths seen from the viewpoint of someone who lives on Sipadan." CDNN: Reports by CDNN, BBC, ABC, CNN and other respected international news services were neither 'conflicting' nor 'bogus'. Borneo Divers: "Fiction: It's too risky to visit Sipadan (or anywhere else in Borneo)." "Fact (according to Borneo Divers): It's never been safer to visit Sipadan, or anywhere else in Borneo. The incident has precipitated a high level of readiness among the Naval, Air, and Police forces here in Sabah. This incident was a slap in the face for them, and there's no way they want to be caught napping. Patrol boats that used to sit at their berths more than cruise are now evident on a daily basis around Sipadan and Mabul. Unauthorized boats are not allowed near the island. In the last 2 months we haven't had so much as a fishing boat within sight of the island. The only boats allowed in and out are the ones operated by dive operations. The net effect is that this cordon around the islands has made them more tranquil than I've ever seen them. I firmly believe that it's safer here than in most cities in the "civilized" world." CDNN: The tired old "it's safer here than New York city" argument. In fact, it is impossible to patrol such a vast area with so many islands and so much boat traffic. Malaysia's Defence Minister, Najib Tun Razik described the problem as follows: "Sabah as you know is a huge land mass - not to mention the sea around Sabah - we're talking about a huge area to cover. We have our assets, but it would not be possible for us to be everywhere all the time. And bearing in mind the communities along that area, they don't recognize international boundaries. They cross over on a daily basis. We have to look at that from a bigger context. Even the Mexican-US border (you're talking about superpower), even they have problems containing the flow of illegal immigrants, what more a huge land base like Sabah and Sarawak." Borneo Divers: "Fiction: It happened once, maybe it will happen again." "Fact (according to Borneo Divers): Even if the government security forces in the region weren't presenting the stiff deterrent that they are, it would still be highly unlikely that we would ever see another incident like this. It was an isolated event designed to put pressure on the Philippine government by embarrassing them with neighbor nations, but it has backfired on them. Before the incident, the Moslem separatists could at least count on moral support from friends in Malaysia, a predominately Moslem nation. But now they have angered the Malaysian government and weakened whatever nominal support they had in their cause. The state of Sabah used to be a refuge for Filipino Moslems, but now hundreds of them have been deported back to the Philippines as a result of the incident. Not an overwhelming success for the rebels, so not a strategy they are likely to try again." CDNN: The statement that the attack on Sipadan Island was an isolated incident is absolutely false. There has been a pattern of abductions, robbery, extortion and killings in the region. Also false is the statement that the abductions, which brought the rebels over US $20 million in ransom payments, has not been a success. Hostage-taking is now big business in the region and wealthy foreign dive tourists are the primary target. Expect another attack, probably on a dive resort. Borneo Divers: "Fiction: The rebels are only an hour's boat ride from Sipadan." "Fact (according to Borneo Divers): I love this one, it's one of my favorite media statements. It can also be said that Miami is an hour's boat ride from Havana, or Los Angeles is an hour's boat ride from Hawaii. At least if you have a fast enough boat. It is true that Philippine territorial waters are not to far from here, about 1 1/2 hours in a moderately fast boat, but any actual land in the Philippines is a Long, Long way from here. Jolo Island, where the hostages are held is over over 200 miles. That would be a pretty fast boat to get there in an hour, and the place they originally took them was even further away. So you can see that the "Bad Guys" are not even in remotely close proximity to Sipadan." CDNN: Another statement that is absolutely false. Again, from Malaysia's Defence Minister: "And bearing in mind the communities along that area, they don't recognize international boundaries. They cross over on a daily basis." The rebels operate with local support throughout islands that are within easy striking distance of Sipadan and other dive resorts in the area. Borneo Divers: "Fiction: The rebels are well trained terrorists." "Fact (according to Borneo Divers): Based on talks with persons that were left behind here on Sipadan, the rebels seem to be inept petty thieves rather than hardened terrorists. The first thing they tried to do was collect as many watches and wallets as possible. Not exactly the first priority for serious terrorists. There's speculation here that the ones that did the snatch, weren't actually members of the rebel unit, just hired to do the deed. Also, when they ordered the one American couple in the group to get on the boat, they simply refused to go along, and got away with it. Not a very assertive bunch of kidnappers. Several persons managed to slip away from them because they weren't paying close attention to their captives." CDNN: According to our reports, many of the Abu Sayyaf rebels have been trained in Afghanistan. In any case, it is irrelevant whether the rebels are well-trained or not. Does it really matter whether heavily armed bandits who behead hostages and are pointing AK-47s at you are well-trained Al Qaeda terrorists? Borneo Divers: "Fiction: The waters surrounding Sabah are crawling with pirates." "Fact (according to Borneo Divers): Here in Sabah, everything gets blamed on Filipino Pirates. If someone's boat motor gets stolen, it was Filipino Pirates. If someone's t-shirt blows off a clothes line, Filipino Pirates get the blame. Local rumor has it that they are even responsible for El Nino and the hole in the Ozone Layer! The truth is that a "pirate" is usually just a petty crook with a boat." CDNN: The pirates account for more than half the world's piracy attacks and a loss of over US $100 million annually. Repeat: US $100 million annually. Not bad for "a petty crook with a boat". Borneo Divers: "Fiction: The media updates contain accurate timely information." "Fact (according to Borneo Divers): Half of what you read is inaccurate. The other half is totally wrong. During the initial reporting of the incident, I read 7 (sic) front page stories on the kidnapping, and every one of them contradicted the others. And those were ALL IN THE SAME PAPER!" CDNN: Better stop reading that state-controlled Malaysian newspaper. Try CDNN, Cyber Diver News Network. We get the facts straight and we issue dive travel alerts based on the facts, not ad contracts, tourism bureau press releases nor local dive op managers with a vested interest in covering up acts of terrorism. Fact is, while Borneo Divers was dismissing terrorism attacks as "media exaggeration", CDNN's dive travel alert for Sipadan and adjacent areas in Borneo correctly anticipated that more attacks on dive resorts would follow the US $20 million success of the Al Qaeda linked terrorist attack on the Sipadan Island scuba diving resort. Reprinted by permission of IN-DEPTH Magazine. Copyright 2000 IN-DEPTH. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the prior written consent of IN-DEPTH. © CDNN - CYBER DIVER NEWS NETWORK | 
