Johari (left), Zolkipli (right) and others walking along the trail at BLNR.
SIBU: Bukit Lima Nature Reserve (BLNR) will be gazetted as ‘Urban Green Area’ in Sibu as part of the state’s conservation policy while developing Sibu town.
Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Dr Abang Johari Tun Openg made the announcement this afternoon at the launching of World Wetlands Day 2020 at BLNR.
Abang Johari said with such gazette, the government will provide and improve the facilities at BLNR and the surrounding areas including drainage and roads.
“This place will not be used for development; it will be a green area in Sibu. Once we gazette, we will improve the infrastructure here and we will re-do the drainage around Bukit Lima area and it will become a tourism area.
“We want to promote Sibu. With all the natural habitat, we will comply with the international requirements. We conserve our area while we develop and we also give space to the natural habitat,” he pointed out.
He added that he would allocate fund through the 12th Malaysian Plan to improve the road leading to BLNR, which has a total size of 219.22 hectares.
He also called on corporate bodies to assist in the developing the infrastructure at BLNR.
He also said that the decision to gazette the place as ‘Urban Green Area’ is part of the efforts to educate the people in Sibu, particularly the younger generation on sustainable development.
He noted that Sarawak is one of the states in Malaysia with positive and innovative policies in development plans whereby the government has identified green areas for conservation.
“Sibu is in the process of urban renewal and the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government will improve the structure of urban area and while we develop the real estate, we must also allocate green areas within urban centre,” he said, adding that it was the state government’s policy in ensuring that Urban Green Areas in towns and cities existed.
Abang Johari added that Sibu was lucky to have BLNR, while Miri has Piasau Nature Reserve and the government is currently developing the Simalajau National Park as a nature reserve.
“All our effort to develop towns, we take the importance of green area. We are very committed to conserve our environment. The ambassador from the European Union (EU) acknowledged that we have positive approaches done by the state government to conserve the environment,” he said.
Meanwhile, Johari also launched the new SFC logo and graced the earth breaking ceremony for the upgrading work of the Customer Service Centre at BLNR.
Also present at the event were Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, Chief Executive Officer of Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) Zolkipli Mohamad Aton and other ministers.