KUCHING, Sept 4: Ministry of Modernisation of Agriculture and Regional Development (Manred) has taken over the management of Integrated Highland Agriculture Station (IHAS) in Long Banga in Ulu Baram.
According to a press release, Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah flew to Long Banga today to symbolically hand over the RM30.8 million station to Manred’s permanent secretary Datu Edwin Abit.
Speaking during the handover ceremony, Uggah said IHAS was planned by the Department of Agriculture when former deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Alfred Jabu was still in office.
According to Uggah, the station’s objective is to serve as a training and research centre for the Agriculture Department.
“Ulu Baram area is still full of untapped agricultural potential and we can use the land with the full co-operation of the owners and the people to fully exploit them.
“I am confident that Manred will continue to utilise it for its original purpose. This centre can be a gamechanger for the people in the interior in term of increasing food production by using the latest technology,” he said.
Uggah pointed out that this also will enable the local residents to earn better income in order to escape the clutches of poverty.
“It will be an ideal training place for newly recruited staff to acclimatise themselves with very trying rural scenario,” he added.
Uggah who is the former Manred Minister hoped the ministry could manage the station by the yearend and also come out with programmes a few months later.
IHAS serves as a bio-tech research centre to develop high value downstream agro food processing and manufacturing for export.
The centre will collaborate with the private sector in this aspect with the aims of increasing overall food self sufficiency, planting high value crops, enhancing efficiency of logistics support and also being a produce collection centre with chilling and packaging facilities for the Long Banga, Long Beruang and Long Peluan areas.
Present to witness the symbolic handover were Manred Deputy Minister Martin Micheal Ben, Deputy Minister in the Sarawak Premier’s Office Datuk Gerawat Gala, Baram Member of Parliament Anyie Ngau, Regional Corridor Development Authority (Recoda) chief executive officer Datuk Ismawi Ismuni, Miri Resident Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusuf and officers from the Highland Development Agency (HDA). — DayakDaily
