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- Munga Suut shows traditional products and handicraft items from Lawas by Kraftangan Tang Itong. — Photos by Muhammad Rais Sanusi.
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- Ama Langat of Uma Kelap at Sungai Asap in Belaga displays an intricately-designed bead necklace that she made by hand.
KUCHING: The five-day Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP) ‘Heart of Borneo (HoB)’ Carnival hosted by the state Forest Department aims to bring together local communities within Sarawak’s HoB areas to showcase and sell non-timber goods such as handicrafts, food and health products.
The inaugural event, which kicked off at Kuching Waterfront yesterday, is held in accordance with the HoB’s fifth thrust that focuses on community-based and rural poverty eradication.
“It is hoped that through this carnival, we can lend a helping hand to local entrepreneurs, especially from rural areas statewide, to market their products and improve community livelihood by encouraging them to raise their income through promoting and selling NTFP products.
“Apart from that, the carnival also aims to introduce HoB projects and communities to the general public,” carnival spokesperson Awang Saimi Awang Sijili said, adding that the organiser hoped to attract more than 5,000 visitors and also planned to make the carnival an annual event.
The Forest Department also plans to run a knowledge-sharing programme (Program Kembara Ilmu) to provide opportunities for local entrepreneurs to improve their standards of living.
“We will bring along several chosen individuals to learn useful skills in producing distinctive products, including handicrafts from non-timber forest resources. We hope to bring this programme, which had been run in several other states before, to Sarawak to be part of the department’s annual activities,” Awang Saimi added.
The carnival, themed ‘Enhancing Community Livelihood Through NTFP’, is bringing together people from rural communities across the state as well as participants from various government agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Thirty-eight exhibitions booths showcasing and selling non-timber forest products have been set up for the various groups, including HoB Sabah, Sarawak and Indonesia (Kalimantan).
Yesterday also saw a potpourri arranging competition using forest resources such as cloves, cinnamon and anise. Kolej Komuniti Kuching student Siti Ratnawati Bustaman, 36, of Taman Sourabaya Indah was declared the winner, bringing home a Samsung television set as her prize – thanks to her coconut-and-bamboo creation dubbed ‘Secantik Manis NTFP’.
Second Minister of Resource Planning and Environment Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan is expected to officiate at the launch of the carnival today, while permanent secretary to the ministry Datu Sudarsono Osman will perform the closing ceremony on Dec 4.