Abang Johari (centre) tosses yee sang flanked by Tiong (left) and Dr Rundi.
BINTULU (Feb 18): The state government will build wave breakers along the Kemena river estuary which will be linked to the Bintulu Port, said Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.
“There has been siltation in the Kemena rivermouth and now we are doing research, we will build the wave breakers, then the rivermouth would have to be dredged.
“Please be patient because it has been included in the plan and now we just need to find funds from our own Sarawak funds,” he said in response to a request from Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Dato Sri Tiong King Sing.
Tiong, who is Bintulu MP, had earlier raised the issue of siltation in the Kemena River estuary, which has caused problems for the local fishing community.
“If Tiong can ask KL to share one-to-one, to develop the Kuala Kemena to build the wave breakers, it will be connected to the Bintulu Port,” Abang Johari said during the Progressive Democratic Party’s (PDP) Chinese New Year Open House at the Bintulu Civic Centre today.
At the same time, Abang Johari stressed the importance of the Sarawak government taking over Bintulu Port Authority from the federal government.
“This allows us to plan for development that is related to the new era, ships now do not use oil but methanol, we have this energy material, bunkering facility will come to Sarawak,” he said.
He said there are no other places that produce methanol even in Singapore, but there is one in Indonesia but the location is far away and Bintulu, Sarawak is strategically located in the centre of the Asean region.
“If we produce methanol, including green methanol, we can create a bunker industry,” said Abang Johari.
He also highlighted other issues in Bintulu, including the need to come up with an overall design for the drainage and irrigation system in Bintulu to solve the problem of flash floods.
This design, he said, will cover all areas in Bintulu and not just in Medan Jaya.
Abang Johari, who is chairman of the Bintulu Development Authority (BDA), said the BDA’s jurisdiction would be extended to include Sebauh and Tatau districts.
With this expansion, he said, the BDA’s development plans can be implemented holistically in the two districts.
“This will give us a lot of space to develop our housing facilities and these areas are also not far from the Pan Borneo Highway,” he said, adding that even now, Jepak is closer to Tatau.
He therefore called on the people to work together with the state government towards Sarawak’s agenda to become a high-income economy and developed region in Malaysia by 2030.
“The World Bank recognised us as a high-income state in 2023 and this achievement was achieved seven years ahead of our target.
“Now, we want to increase household income in line with our state’s high-income economy, including in the agricultural sector,” he said.
He said Sarawak is blessed with the abundant resources, blessed with the unity that prevails, blessed with Sarawakians who can be trained to develop Sarawak, especially towards the Sarawak Post Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030.
Under the PCDS 2030, he said there were two important aspects, namely social inclusiveness and environmental sustainability, which would attract investors to come to Sarawak.
“The stability we have, with a good situation, then outsiders will have confidence in us, they will put their money investment in Sarawak, especially in Bintulu,” he said.
Among those present were Minister of Food Industry, Commodity and Regional Development Dato Sri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom and Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.