Bentong to put to bed its ‘sleepy town’ image
Liow: Town evolving into thriving commercial centre
KARAK: Bentong will no longer be known as a sleepy town as it evolves into a thriving tourism and commercial centre, benefiting from the rapid economic growth of Greater Kuala Lumpur, said Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.
The Bentong MP urged residents to embrace the change to reap the benefits.
“Bentong will be a dynamic township because of its rapid economic growth. The younger generation will be lured here with the increase in jobs. That is the whole purpose of transforming Bentong.
“Overall, the people – hawkers, restaurants, tour operators – will gain and all this will be channelled back to the people of Bentong,” he said after attending a senior citizens’ celebration in Kampung Teroh yesterday.
Liow, who is also Transport Minister, said Bentong residents may have to adjust in the beginning with the influx of tourists flocking to buy the famed ginger and durian.
Traffic jams, for example, are also to be expected but Liow said that he has directed the local council and the district officer to come up with plans to ease congestion.
“We should have more parking spaces, roads and amenities. We are planning to build an outer ring road.
“We also hope that the Central Spine Road can be completed early and coupled with the East Coast Rail Link, we will be better connected to Greater KL, the catalyst for the country’s economic growth,” said Liow.
He added that the national transformation agenda has laid a very strong foundation and coordination for the country to push the economy to greater heights with railway lines, airports and seaports being among the key factors, the Belt and Road initiative and investments from other countries.
Liow said countries such as the United States, India, China and the Middle East have high respect for Malaysia as the economic growth leader in South-East Asia.
He is also optimistic that Malaysia’s overall economic growth will hit 6% this year, higher than last year’s 4.2%.
For the third quarter this year, the country has already achieved 6.2%.