Tanjung Manis Palm Oil Industrial Cluster to be impetus for more entrepreneurship opportunities
Awang Tengah visits a booth displaying samples of oil palm fruits and oil accompanied by Lau (second right).
SIBU: The Tanjung Manis Palm Oil Industrial Cluster (POIC) will be a catalyst for downstream industries and open up opportunities for entrepreneurship among the people.
Second Minister of Resource Planning and Environment Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan said the palm oil industry could eradicate poverty and contribute towards rural transformation.
“POIC is a catalyst for us to be involved in the downstream industries. I want to see more downstream industries being implemented such as margarine or soaps,” he said when launching the RM70 million Tanjung Manis Palm Oil Bulking Facilities (POBF) yesterday.
He said Tanjung Manis POIC is one of two POICs approved in Sarawak by the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities and the state government under the 10th Malaysia Plan.
“It has been developed since 2008 at a total cost of RM135.7 million for the infrastructural development. Another POIC that has
been approved in Sarawak is located in Bintulu,” he said, explaining that the POIC here is surrounded by clusters of oil palm plantations totalling some 400,000 ha.
He said the state had approved two million ha of state and Native Customary Rights (NCR) land throughout Sarawak for the development of oil palm plantations.
“So far, 1.5 million ha have been planted with oil palm and big areas are also being developed for oil palm plantations in our neighbouring country Indonesia.
“This provides huge opportunities for Tanjung Manis POIC to grow and to support their business undertakings,” he pointed out, adding the POIC will ultimately export products overseas.
Urging Tanjung Manis folk to grab the opportunities being opened up, he said the government hopes the town would soon thrive with residents involved in different businesses.
“We do not want the people here to be just the employees. No doubt job opportunities abound, but this is not our aim. Our aim is that our people will be involved in businesses, even small-scale businesses … slowly we can go big,” he said.
Awang Tengah noted that the government had spent billions to put all necessary infrastructure and facilities in place such as water, electricity, roads, and telecommunications to attract investors and allow Tanjung Manis to be connected to the outside world.
The POBF was initiated by Tanjung Manis Bulkers Sdn Bhd as a joint-venture between Pusaka Capital Group – a subsidiary and investment arm of the Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation (STIDC) – and KTS Group.
Among those present at the event were Assistant Minister of Industrial Development (Investment and Promotion) Datuk Julaihi Narawi, KTS Group managing director Dato Henry Lau, Regional Corridor Development Authority (Recoda) CEO Tan Sri Datuk Amar
Wilson Baya Dandot, and Pusaka general manager Datu Sarudu Hoklai.