Sarikei fruit fest part of food basket initiative
SARIKEI: The annual Sarikei Pineapple and Fruits Fest is a small investment to help the local farming community to promote and market their products.
Urban Planning, Land Administration and Environment Assistant Minister Datu Len Talif Saleh said organisers did not expect a big return or immediate results from it.
But he would consider it a big success if the investment of less than half a million ringgit had helped to generate a small income for the farmers.
“As we are aware of, the main objective of the festival is to facilitate the realisation of our big plan, that is to transform Sarikei into a food basket of Sarawak,”
As we are aware of, the main objective of the festival is to facilitate the realization of our big plan, that is to transform Sarikei into a food basket of Sarawak.
he pointed out when officiating the closing of the festival which started on Nov 12.
Among the upcoming projects of this food basket initiative were the proposed Sungai Baji Agro Park, which is already at an early implementation stage, and the construction of road and a bridge to link Sungai Pasi Road with Sibu/ Tanjung Manis Road, he disclosed.
The proposed road connectivity, he added, would provide an opportunity for local farmers to export their products by air or sea via Tanjung Manis.
Later Len presented prizes to participants of the Unity Run which he flagged off in the morning.
Among those present were Repok assemblyman Dato Sri Huang Tiong Sii, Meradong assemblyman Datuk Ding Kuong Hiing, Sarikei Resident Mohd Junaidi Mohidin and District Officer Christopher Ranggau.
Datu Len Talif Saleh, Urban Planning, Land Administration and Environment Assistant Minister