Rep: Yong has great potential to become ‘Food Basket of Kapit’
KAPIT: The Sungai Yong area, about 20km from Kapit town, holds high potential of becoming the ‘food basket’ for this division, observes Bukit Goram assemblyman Jefferson Jamit Unyat.
According to him, the land there is very fertile, with a variety of high-demand seasonal fruits like ‘ mata kucing’ (local longan), langsat and durian growing in abundance.
The ‘ dabai’ (local olive) from Yong is touted as being the best in Sarawak, he adds.
“I aim to develop Sungai Yong into becoming the ‘ Food Basket of Kapit’. To achieve this, I will discuss it with the Ministry of Agriculture Native Land and Regional Development, regarding the viable ways to assist the farmers and encourage them to venture into modern farming.
“With the CPPC (collection, processing and packaging centre) having been approved for Kapit, the land owners here should grab the opportunity to open up more land to expand their farming activities, both in terms of quantity and quality.
“More output means more incomes. Also, diversified farming is able to mitigate the impact from fluctuations of (commodity) prices,” said Jamit in his speech at the launch the ‘ Agriculture Community Outreach Programme (AgriCOP) 2020’ in Rumah Manok Manchal, Nanga Mawang, at
Sungai Ulu Yong here on Monday.
Adding on, Jamit said the people living along Sungai Yong had benefi ed greatly from various infrastructures including the development of roads, as well as the provision of electricity and treated water supply.
This was a far cry from several years ago, where this remote area was very difficult to reach.
“The folk back then could only depend on river transportation – a journey from Kapit town could take up to nine hours via boat.
“A er the road had been built and the electricity and water supply had come in, the villagers took the opportunity to open up their land for fruit-planting and
other crops.
“All of them are now farmers. Many of them now own fourwheel drive vehicles, on top of longboats; their children get to go to school more conveniently than before; their lives have greatly improved,” he said.
The AgriCOP 2020 for the area was launched by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, who is also the Minister of Agriculture Native Land and Regional Development.
The programme, which involved some 100 local land owners, was aimed at introducing modern farming to the local folk and encouraging them to diversify their agriculture activities.