Call to incorporate old Siniawan Bazaar into heritage site

0

MIRO Simuh (PBB-Serumbu) is appealing to the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Youth and Sports to help incorporate the old Siniawan Bazaar into a heritage site.

He said this would enable the bazaar to receive annual allocation that the local community could use to run various programmes to attract visitors throughout the year.

“Perhaps some of us in this august House might have heard of the Hollywood producer’s interest to film the ‘The White Rajah’ movie which will begin in the second quarter of next year.

“The Siniawan Heritage Bazaar has been identified as the most suitable place to film the movie. It is expected that 70 per cent of the film’s content will be made in Siniawan Heritage Bazaar.

“Therefore, I hope that the ministry will be able to channel the RM500,000 fund as stated in my application last year to repair and upgrade the historic buildings at the old Siniawan Bazaar that are more than 100 years old,” he said yesterday.

Miro believed that with some facelifts, the Siniawan Heritage Bazaar can be turned into a unique destination for both local and foreign visitors.

He pointed out that among the popular tourism products in Serembu are the Night Market in the old Siniawan Bazaar, Tanjung Durian Buddhist Village, the highest Pagoda building on Borneo Island, Brooke Heritage Site in Peninjau Village, Panorama of Mount Serembu, Liew Shan Bang in Jugan Siniawan, a hotspring park at Paku Town, Fairy Cave in Krokong, Tagang at Kpg. Tringgus and Kpg. Sogo.

On another note, Miro querried the Land and Survey Department regarding the survey of native customary rights (NCR) land under Section 6 and Section 18 of Sarawak Land Code 1958.

He wanted the department to disclose the number of areas in the Bidayuh settlements that had been fully surveyed and how many areas have been issued with Land Ownership Title.

“I am bringing up the grassroots’ concern to this august House and I hope the Land and Survey Department will look into the issues and expedite the issuance of titles to the land that had been surveyed,” he said.