KOTA BELUD: The Sabah Ministry of Rural Development (KPLB) will introduce a number of new programmes, including the Mini Estet Sejahtera (Mesej) Tourism programme, to economically empower the rural population.
Minister Ewon Benedick said the programmes could help develop the rural tourism industry, highlighting the unique tourism attractions in the rural areas of the state.
“Carrying on with the existing programmes at KPLB, I also wanted to introduce the Mesej Tourism programme. The first area that we chose to implement this programme is in Kadamaian which has great rural tourism potential and the first village I have identified for this purpose is Kampung Sayap,” he said at the launch of the Kadamaian assemblyman’s service centre in Kampung Piasau Kota Belud, here today.
Ewon said the existing Mesej programme had focused mostly on agriculture and aquaculture products.
Meanwhile, Ewon said that his ministry also planned to introduce rubberised road technology used in Thailand and several roads in the Peninsular to build rural roads in Sabah.
We have identified the first rural road in Sabah to implement this technology, namely the 2km road in Kampung Tambulaung Podos Kota Belud. The Malaysia Rubber Board has this technology. Therefore, I will call for a discussion on this matter with them and several related agencies after the Adilfitri holiday,” he said. -Bernama