SRDC to work with elected reps on new Selangau Tamu
SIBU: Sibu Rural District Council ( SRDC) will work together with the local people’s elected representatives to realise its proposal for a new Selangau Tamu.
In stating this yesterday, SRDC chairman Sempurai Petrus Ngelai said the council together with local YBs ( Tamin assemblyman Christopher Gira and Selangau MP Datuk Joseph Entulu) have already laid out the proposal for the market.
It will be located on a piece of land next to the Selangau bazaar or in front of Mara building.
“The council has already written to Land and Survey Department Sibu to confirm the usage of the said land for public purposes such as new tamu, food court or even rural transformation centre ( RTC) in the near future.
“The current tamu area will be developed into a waterfront next to Batang Mukah. Council also noted that the existing tamu is not suitable as it does not have any place for extension. When the Pan Borneo highway is completed (in time to come), the current tamu location will become hidden from the main highway. The proposed new site in front of the MARA building, however, will become the prime area and next to the main highway,” he told The Borneo Post when contacted yesterday.
Sempurai was commenting on president of Pemansang Dayak Selangau Branch Seman Agan’s call for the government to upgrade and expand the Selangau tamu (fresh produce market) to cater to the growing number of farmers and traders.
Seman had claimed that Selangau tamu was overcrowded with mostly Dayak farmers, hoping that the government could upgrade the tamu which was getting too cramped and unable to accommodate the growing number of traders and farmers.
He also reportedly said some traders were resorting to selling by the roadside which was dangerous.
On this, Sempurai said: “The current Selangau tamu - the place is only overcrowded in the weekend when the weekend traders come to Selangau Bazaar to sell their jungle produce and local vegetables.
“Even if the weekend traders are in the current tamu, it still can accommodate them. It is just because some of the traders prefer to do trading at the road side or five-foot way.
“But in actual fact, the current tamu is still enough to accommodate the licensed traders. Council already advises these traders not to trade at the road side and at five footway with our enforcement officers monitoring them and giving them advice to trade inside the tamu building.”
In this regard, he hoped that all the tamu traders especially the weekend traders would follow the council’s directive not to trade at five footways.
“I hope our non- governmental organisation ( NGO) can assist council to advise these traders to fully utilise the current tamu building for their safety and comfort,” added Sempurai.
Meanwhile, Gira had allocated fund from his Rural Transformation Programme ( RTP) project for the construction of the new tamu ( RM300,000) and public toilet ( RM150,000).