Len: Sama Jaya Digital Village ready by March next year
KUCHING: The proposed Digital Village ( DV) at Sama Jaya High Tech Park here is set to be ready by March next year.
Tabung Ekonomi Gagasan Anak Bumiputera Sarawak ( Tegas) has been given the mandate to implement the RM27- million project.
Tegas chairman Datuk Len Talif Salleh said time was quite short for them to construct the village, the first as well as the only one in Malaysia, because they were pushing to deliver the DV in 14 months although Tegas was given 18 months to complete the project.
“That is why we are rushing through to select the contractor. Five out of six tenderers had come up with their quotation. After we have gone through the process our Board of Trustees had decided to pick Hock Seng Lee as the contractor to build the village.
“Works on the site are to begin today. That is why we don’t have the earth breaking, just the handing over of site today so that they will prepare all the land clearing and everything immediately,” Len, who is Assistant Minister of Urban Planning, Land Administration and Environment, told reporters at the site here yesterday.
He said he had told Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg that they would deliver the DV by the first quarter of 2020.
“We do not have the luxury of time to complete the project but hopefully we will be able to deliver it on time. Of course, without compromising on the quality because we are talking about a digital village, which must have high quality,” he said.
About 20 acres had been allocated for the DV, of which about five acres will be used to develop two buildings plus all other components including a lecture hall, office, canteen, theatrette, work space and gym.
Len said the village would be expanded over the years because a lot of components needed to be provided for.
He noted that Tegas, which had also been tasked to operate the village, would be guided by Sarawak Multimedia Authority ( SMA) in terms of set- up, facilities and the latest digital technology.
The main function of the DV, said Len, is for the Sarawak government to provide a platform especially for the young people, who graduated from the hubs, to go to higher level for exposure.
“Probably, we can bring people from overseas who can give them talks, guide them to come up with mobile application which is good for Sarawak, good for them.
“The DV is more than an IT institution. Sarawak is the first one to do this. We need to do this to provide the infrastructure, like the speed of the internet, which is very important, where we are talking about 200 to 250 mbps. At the moment at our hub, it is only about 100 to 250 mbps,” he said.
Len assured that people can go to the hub as well as the DV at a discount price, adding that the young people can go there, sit there and work out whatever products they want to develop.
Members of Tegas Board of Trustees, including Assistant Minister of Corporate Affairs Abdul lah Saidol, Assistant Minister of Youth and Sports Datuk Snowdan Lawan, Batu Danau assemblyman Paulus Gumbang, Telang Usan assemblyman Dennis Ngau, Demak Laut assemblyman Dr Hazland Abang Hipni and Hock Seng Lee Berhad executive director Tony Yu were also present at the handing- over of site ceremony.