By Nur Ashikin Louis
KUCHING, June 22: More needs to be done to ensure that the Tanjung Manis Economic Growth Area (T-Mega) would continue to develop not only economically but also to improve the livelihood of the local community.
In stating this, Urban Planning, Land Administration and Environment Assistant Minister Datuk Len Talif Salleh described Tanjung Manis as a development catalyst to the Lembah Rajang and perhaps even to the likes of Bintulu and other surrounding areas.
“When we look at the development projects planned for Tanjung Manis, it is projected that the population will increase to 25,000 people by the year 2030.
“We have faced about four economic crises within the past 30 years of developing Tanjung Manis and therefore, we will use the experiences that we have gained so far into planning for the future,” he said in a press conference held at Wisma Sumber Alam here today.
Tanjung Manis’s potential in timber industry was first materialised in 1990 with the setting up of the Tanjung Manis Timber Processing Zone (TMTPZ). According to Len, more than 40 per cent of timber export products come from Tanjung Manis.
Over the years, the authorities have started to discover more potential of Tanjung Manis to become the economic growth centre of the State’s central region with the setting up of Tanjung Manis Deep Sea Fishery Port Complex in 2004, Tanjung Manis Ship Building Industrial Area in 2007, Tanjung Manis Halal Hub in 2009 and T-Mega in 2018.
To date, Tanjung Manis is already tapping into various industries including halal and food processing industry, Palm Oil Industrial Cluster (POIC) and Central Oil and Gas Distribution Terminal (CODT), shipping industry, deep sea fishing, oil and gas, timber processing, agriculture and aquaculture.
For the long term, the Halal Hub will involve an area of 124,517 hectares and had already attracted the interest of local and foreign investors. At present, Tanjung Manis has attracted local investments worth no less than RM1 billion and generated about 2,000 employments.
Len also informed that under the present State government, financial resources is no longer a concern for Sarawak to implement infrastructural development projects in a more aggressive manner.
He added, “If you ask me, of course I’m not satisfied (yet) with the development progress for the past 31 years but I am still happy. This is because I understand that we had encountered various difficulties and challenges which contributed to the hiccups of the progress.
“However, there is a lot more to be done so that Tanjung Manis can bring impact in accordance to what we have planned for it to become a catalyst for the development of Lembah Rajang and other surrounding areas.” — DayakDaily
