New Paddy Mills at Wasan to Produce 8.5 Tons of Rice Per Year

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BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources (MIPR) through Department of Agriculture and Agrifood undertook a task to formulate a master plan that will help establish the inaugural Center for National Paddy Processing that is both high in quality and capacity in support of the local paddy manufacturing industry, ©BRUDIRECT.COM reported.

In a bid to achieve a goal of such magnitude, a Paddy Processing Complex was launched yesterday by Minister of Industry and Primary Resources, Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Utama Dato Seri Setia Awg Hj Yahya Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Hj Bakar. The launching took place at Wasan Paddy Mill Center in Jalan Limau Manis.

Also present during the inauguration ceremony was Member of Legislative Council (LegCo) Mukim Lumapas, Yang Berhormat Awg Hj Jumat Akim; Yang Mulia Dyg Hjh HasnahHj Ibrahim, Deputy Permanent Secretary (Primary Resources Development) MIPR; Yang Mulia Awg Hj Khairuddin Hj Abd Hamid, Deputy Permanent Secretary (Industrial Development and Entrepreneurship), MIPR; Dyg Hjh Aidah Hj Md Hanifah, Director of Agriculture and Agrifood; Heads of Departments; senior government officials and staff of Department of Agriculture.

To bless the ceremony, a staff from Mosque Affairs Department Imam Hj Burhanuddin Hj Daud recited Surah Al-Fatihah and the Doa Selamat. It was then followed by a welcoming remark by Senior Managing Director of Satake Corporation Mr Kihara Kazuyuki. A short video presentation on the paddy processing plant was later initiated by Mr Tomoyasu Yoshimara, General Manager of Satake Corporation. Shortly after, Minister of Industry and Primary Resources was invited to officiate the launching of the new paddy processing complex. A recital of Selawat to Muhammad Rasullullah Sallalahu Alaihi Wassalam was performed beforehand by Imam Hj Burhanuddin to bless the occasion. Yang Berhormat Pehin then toured the facility, getting a first-look on the machines while trying out to pack the Laila-type paddy at the packaging fixture, much to the amazement of the onlookers. The Minister also went to visit the laboratory in which the paddy will undergo further testing prior to packaging.

The project cost approximately BND$5,010,272.00 and it covers purchase, supply and assembly of the machineries that can produce up to 3.5 metric tons of paddy per minute. In addition, such a feat will enable the Sultanate to achieve its projected level of self sufficiency up to twenty per cent with five thousand and eight hundred metric tons of rice per annum. Moreover, the master plan also includes with it the needed facilities to train the personnel of Department of Agriculture and Agrifood in handling the massive machineries that debuted in the country’s leading paddy fields yesterday.

In preparing the workforce needed to man the entire facility, personnel from the relevant departments have undergone a two-week basic course in Thailand with another six weeks’ worth of additional training in the Sultanate when the assembly of the machineries concluded this August. The training was provided by Satake Corporation from Japan.

The new milling complex is estimated to produce local paddy with an efficient rate while at the same time enabling the personnel to maintain tight quality control under the strictest possible scrutiny.

As a progressive measure towards achieving the self sufficiency, MIPR is currently planning to increase the paddy capacity to 7.5 metric tons per hour to fulfill the maximum sixty per cent production rate, a plan that will soon be implemented by the Ministry in times to come.