By Ling Hui
BINTULU, Nov 1: Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg wants Sarawak’s bamboo export earnings to reach RM10 million annually.
He said the 2022 records stated that Sarawak only earned RM1.2 million from exporting bamboo while Malaysia recorded RM8.43 million in bamboo export earnings.
“The market value of bamboo accounted for USD66.22 billion in 2022. In the same year, Malaysia recorded RM8.43 million in export earnings from bamboo.
“And Sarawak, we also export bamboo but only a little, about RM1.2 million. So, I’m hoping to increase that to RM10 million a year.
“That will be the challenge, like playing badminton. We ‘smash’ straight to (reach the) RM10 million,” he said during the Samalaju Greening Project and Supply of Sustainable Raw Material Through Bamboo Cultivations Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) exchange ceremony between Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation (STIDC), Bintulu Development Authority (BDA) and Pertama Ferroalloys Sdn Bhd at a local hotel here today.
The MoU reflects a shared aspiration to cultivate the Samalaju area with sustainable bamboo species, which can be harvested and processed into wood pellets, a biomass that can be combusted as fuel to produce electricity.
Abang Johari said similar methods are being used in the United Kingdom whereby wood imported from Canada is processed into wood pellets to produce electricity.
“I asked SEB (Sarawak Energy) to visit the UK. One of their power stations can produce up to 2,500MW or 2.5GW of electricity, all from wood pellets.
“Here (in Sarawak), we use the fast-growing trees like bamboo. Trees must be of certain sizes to be harvested to make furniture, but there’s no such requirement for electricity generation.
“I want to try and produce electricity from our biomass. We can try to generate 500MW first by planting the bamboo in cycles,” he said.
Meanwhile, Abang Johari also said that the bamboo cultivation in Samalaju is part of the town’s landscaping, which falls under the purview of BDA.
“Because bamboo ‘nampak kacak’ (looks beautiful), and once they’ve grown, we harvest it to be processed into wood pellets for Pertama Ferroalloys’ operations,” he added.
Among other dignitaries who were also present were Sarawak Legislative Assembly speaker Tan Sri Datuk Amar Mohamad Asfia Awang Nassar, Deputy Minister of Urban Planning, Land Administration and Environment Datuk Len Talif Salleh who represented Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan, Sarawak Secretary Datuk Amar Mohamad Abu Bakar Marzuki, Pertama Ferroalloys Sdn Bhd general manager Yuki Nakamura, STIDC general manager Zainal Abidin Abdullah, and BDA general manager Datu Muhamad Yakup Kari. — DayakDaily
