SPAOH, Dec 10: Bukit Saban incumbent Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas has set his sights on introducing and promoting modern agriculture and better education in the constituency over the next five years if reelected.
As Bukit Saban folks have plenty of land, the Deputy Chief Minister said that the way to gainfully develop this asset is through modern technology-based agriculture.
“Modern agriculture is all about increasing the people’s income by boosting their productivity.
“This will be done using methods like fertigation and hydroponics which are very efficient and non-labour intensive,” he told the media after launching the Paku River cleaning and beautification campaign at the Spaoh waterfront here today.
With two agroparks approved for Bebuling and Lubok Tamang in nearby Saribas, he emphasised that the agroparks will become the modern agriculture centres.
More importantly, he said, farmers must diversify their activities instead of over relying on commodities like pepper and oil palm.
“Then they should also explore the downstream processing as the airport at Bebuling, for which construction has just started and it is expected to be ready by 2023, will facilitate the movement of agricultural products into the markets,” he said.
Uggah pointed out that he will also prioritise education as it is key for people to access a better life and escape the clutches of poverty.
“We want to cultivate education among our children.
“While the future of education would be different and challenging, we have to make sure our people are technology savvy to access new knowledge and to do business,” he said.
There is a digital district community centre in Spaoh and soon another one will be set up in Betong as well as the Centre of Technical Excellence (Centexs) Betong.
Also on his agenda is to preserve and protect racial unity and harmony as these values are the foundation for Sarawak to prosper and advance to greater heights. — DayakDaily
