Minos (left) discusses some points with SDC secretary Simon Wong Hong Yong. — Photo by Churchill Edward
KOTA SAMARAHAN: Samarahan District Council (SDC) is mulling on the setup of a farmers bazaar here, in line with the announcement by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak that there would be four more next year, alongside 10 agro-bazaars.
Samarahan Walikota Dato Peter Minos said this district would be perfect for the plan, adding that he had identified an ideal site for it — an existing parking space near his office where the ongoing National Farmers, Breeders and Fishermen Day (HPPNK) 2015 is being held.
He said to realise this, he would follow up on the plan with the Prime Minister’s Department, federal Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Ministry, and state Modernisation of Agriculture Ministry.
“I hope the government would provide the allocation for the necessary infrastructure so that both the public and farmers would be attracted to the idea.
“The bazaar would be useful to both farmers and shoppers, as now people want to save more money. They want to get fresh, quality produce at affordable prices. On this, Samarahan will have an advantage as it is both modern and agricultural in terms of background,” he said.
On development, Minos noted that this town was seeing rapid growth not only in population but also in the number of housing estates and commercial centres.
He pointed out Aiman Square as one of these emerging projects, which would house a food centre among its facilities that would particularly benefit the university populace.
The project is near the old entrance of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas). Minos said the food centre would also showcase cultural and contemporary entertainments to woo customers.
“The centre is set to be the best and should benefit the small-time traders. The allocation of stalls would be done evenly to cater for each Chinese, Dayak and Muslim segment,” he said.
Minos also highlighted the rapid growth here, where there are around 80 housing estates with about 20 more underway to accommodate rising population and also in response to the scarcity of land in Kuching Division.
Currently, the population of Samarahan is at 170,000, with annual growth rate of six per cent.
“This (population growth) rate is the highest among towns in Sarawak. Many people, including investors, are flocking into Kota Samarahan to seek various opportunities.
“I can see that in many aspects, Kota Samarahan is just like Bintulu during its early days of rapid development. It is now a fast-growing hub that provides many avenues for investments, especially in properties. Maybe the land here is still cheap and property developers are taking full advantage of that.”
In this respect, Minos urged for more Dayak investors and entrepreneurs to take up the challenge here.
“There is still some more millions of ringgit to be made here.”
On this year’s HPPNK, Minos said the event had managed to put this town on the map.
According to him, the number of visitors passed the 36,000-mark as at Monday night.