Lahad Datu ( ms, Bandar Lahad Datu) is the capital of the Lahad Datu District in the

Dent Peninsula The Dent Peninsula ( ms, Semenanjung Dent) is a peninsula in eastern Sabah, Malaysia. It consists of hills and broad coastal areas. The Peninsula is also previously considered as a volcanic arc of the region which have since migrated southward ...

Tawau Division Tawau Division ( ms, Bahagian Tawau) is one of the five administrative sub-divisions of Sabah, Malaysia. It occupies a total of 14,905 square kilometres or 20% of Sabah's territory. The main towns include the capital of Tawau, Lahad Datu, Kun ...

Sabah Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. Its population was estimated to be around 27,887 in 2010. The town is surrounded by stretches of

cocoa Cocoa may refer to: Chocolate * Chocolate * ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree * Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao'' * Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter and ...

and

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced fr ...

plantations. It is also an important timber exporting port. The town has an

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

for domestic flights.

History

A settlement is believed to have existed here in the 15th century, as excavations have unearthed

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

Chinese ceramics. Just east of Lahad Datu is the village of Tunku, a notorious base for pirates and slave traders in the 19th century. Based on a Jawi manuscript in the Ida'an language dated 1408 A.D, it is believed to be the first site in northern Borneo where Islam was first introduced. The Jawi manuscript gives an account of an Ida'an man named Abdullah in Darvel Bay who embraced Islam.

Foreign militant intrusion

On 23 September 1985, 15-20 armed foreign pirates from the neighbouring

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

landed on this town, killing at least 21 people and injuring 11 others. Another standoff occurred in February 2013 and lasted for over a month between Malaysian authorities and the militants of the self-proclaimed " Royal Security Forces of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo" led by Jamalul Kiram III resulted in a Malaysian victory and creation of the Eastern Sabah Security Command and Eastern Sabah Security Zone.

Economy

Lahad Datu also has several palm oil refineries. The

Palm Oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced fr ...

Industrial Cluster (POIC) is located near Lahad Datu township. POIC owns and operates its own port, POIC Port Lahad Datu and received its first vessel on 1 March 2013. It consists of of industrial land developed (with a centralised bulking facility, dry, liquid, barge and container terminals with a sea draft of 20 meters, making it one of the few deep sea ports in the world). To date, 55 companies have invested in POIC with 11 companies involved in fertilizer (making it the biggest cluster of fertilizer companies). POIC is a wholly state-owned company under the purview of the Ministry of Industrial Development, Sabah. Its Chairman is YB Senator Datuk Donald Mojuntin, and the Acting Chief Executive Officer is Mdm. Lynette Hoo (ADK). POIC was started by Datuk Dr Pang Teck Wai in 2005 and now retired since June 2020.

Transportation

Lahad Datu is linked to other towns and districts via Federal Route 13, a part of larger Pan-Borneo Highway network in the east coast of Sabah. Works of constructing a new bypass road on

Sandakan Sandakan (, Jawi script, Jawi: , ) formerly known at various times as Elopura, is the capital of the Sandakan District in Sabah, Malaysia. It is the second largest city in Sabah after Kota Kinabalu. It is located on the Sandakan Peninsula and e ...

Tawau Tawau (, Jawi: , ), formerly known as Tawao, is the capital of the Tawau District in Sabah, Malaysia. It is the third-largest city in Sabah, after Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan. It is located on the Semporna Peninsula in the southeast coast of t ...

route has been commenced on mid 2016, to relieve the traffic congestion on the town itself. Lahad Datu is served by many different methods of transportation. Taxis, buses and minibuses are abundant and provide connectivity around the town and other districts such as

and

. Lahad Datu Port is a container port administered by Sabah Port Sdn. Bhd. First Palm City Centre (FPCC) along Jalan Pantai is a integrated commercial development by Titijaya Land Berhad. It consist of 2-3 storey of retail shoplots, bus terminal and anchor business , Econsave operating in this strategic business address. 1.5km to town, 2km to Lahad Datu Airport and 2.5km to Lahad Datu Hospital. MASwings, a regional airline and subsidiary of

Malaysia Airlines Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB; ms, Penerbangan Malaysia Berhad), formerly known as Malaysian Airline System (MAS; ), and branded as Malaysia Airlines, is the flag carrier airline of Malaysia and a member of the Oneworld airline alliance. (The ...

(MAB) provides five direct flights daily to

Kota Kinabalu , image_skyline = , image_caption = From top, left to right, bottom:Kota Kinabalu skyline, Wawasan intersection, Tun Mustapha Tower, Kota Kinabalu Coastal Highway, the Kota Kinabalu City Mosque, the Wism ...

, the state's capital from Lahad Datu Airport.

Climate

Lahad Datu has a

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate, humid tropical climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southea ...

(Af) with heavy rainfall year-round.

References

11. First Palm City Centre (FPCC) https://www.google.com/maps/place/First+Palm+City+Centre+-+Phase+1/@5.023475,118.3206178,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x323f9f9623c2e99f:0xb07163197ac4c796!8m2!3d5.023433!4d118.3227583

External links

{{Sabah Lahad Datu District Towns in Sabah