Sarawak to have more Centexs — Abg Johari
BETONG: The Sarawak government is in the process of setting up more Centre of Technical Excellence Sarawak (Centexs) in the state.
Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg told a press conference after officiating at the soft opening of the Betong Centexs yesterday that the new centres would be in Lundu, Lawas and Dalat, besides Kuching and Betong.
He said the establishment of the new centres is necessary to produce more technicians trained in various fields relevant to the emerging industries.
TheBetong Centexsin particular, he added, is collaborating with Chinese telecommunication and digital technology giant Huawei to develop technologies to be used in smart agriculture.
“Betong, which is in the Sadok Agropolitan area, has tremendous potential in agriculture. By using digital technology, many farm operations can be monitored and operated.
“We can do sophisticated soil analysis to determine its type and mineral contents so we can identify the best crops to plant there,” he said.
“In other words, we would be able to do soil profiling which we seldom did,” he added.
Abang Johari said although Huawei had issues with certain countries, Sarawak was looking forward to sharing the many technologies it had developed.
Besides smart farming development, he said the Betong Centexs would also focus on developing Sarawak’s indigenous produce and crafts to boost its tourism sector.
“We want to produce high quality products through computer designing or simulation,” he said.
He added that the Betong Centexs would also offer basic electrical engineering courses to produce electricians.
Deputy chief ministers Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah and Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan; Minister of Local Government and Housing Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian; Minister of Utilities Dato Sri Dr Stephen Rundi; Minister of Welfare, Community Well Being, Family and Childhood Development Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah; and State Secretary Tan Sri Datuk Amar Mohamad Morshidi Abdul Ghani were among the dignitaries present.