By Brad Rantayy
MIRI, Feb 22: The Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) welcomes the formation of a special taskforce by the Federal government to study the impact of Indonesia shifting its capital to Kalimantan and to plan the development of the Sarawak-Kalimantan border.
According to SUPP secretary-general Datuk Sebastian Ting Chiew Yew, it is timely for Federal government to pay special attention to this new area of growth.
“With the present population of 18 million people and the likely huge influx of Indonesians, businesses and manufacturing to the new capital called Nusantara, their demand for electricity, raw materials, gas, food products and services will definitely increase tremendously.
“This will certainly offer a whole range of business opportunities for Sarawak and indeed the potential growth for Sarawak is beyond imagination,” Ting said in a statement today.
“Without a shadow of a doubt, the people of Sarawak will greatly benefit from this,” he added.
Furthermore, the relocation of Indonesia’s capital is likely to have huge impact on our tourism, cultural exchanges, health-tourism, education, agriculture and transportation, Ting pointed out.
“Therefore we in Sarawak must also get ourselves ready to welcome and participate in these new business opportunities,” he asserted.
Ting said that it is important for Sarawak to have infrastructure development plans in place to improve the border security and to set up state-of-the-art Customs, Immigration, Quarantine and Security (CIQS) offices at all possible entry points between Sarawak and Indonesia, very much like the Sultan Abu Bakar Complex in Johor that regulates the Malaysia-Singapore border.
“In addition, we must also have good roads connecting the Indonesia border to our major towns and cities. In the future, we may have to look into having a LRT or train system network connecting Sarawak, Brunei, Sabah and Indonesia,” he said. — DayakDaily
