| Rokiah Mahmud |
MEMBERS of the Legislative Council (LegCo) yesterday continued their series of visits to local agricultural and fishery sites, this time focusing on Mukim Gadong ‘A’ and Pengkalan Batu in the Brunei-Muara District, and Mukim Keriam in the Tutong District.
The working visit was organised by the Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism (MPRT) to expose the LegCo members to development of local agriculture and fishery industries, which are leading steps taken towards the diversification of Brunei’s economy.
A total of 11 LegCo members were involved in the site visits: YB Pehin Datu Imam Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Haji Awang Abdul Hamid bin Bakal, YB Pehin Orang Kaya Pendikar Alam Dato Paduka Seri Haji Hasrin bin Dato Paduka Haji Sabtu, YB Pehin Orang Kaya Putera Maharaja Dato Paduka Haji Abdul Ghani bin Pehin Datu Pekerma Dewa Dato Paduka Haji Abdul Rahim, YB Haji Umarali bin Esung, YB Iswandy bin Ahmad, YB Naim bin Haji Kamis, YB Haji Tahamit bin Haji Nudin, YB Haji Mohimin bin Haji Johari @ Jahari, YB Haji Abdul Hamid bin Haji Mumin; YB Hanapi bin Mohammad Siput and YB Haji Abdul Wahab bin Apong.
With them were Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Ali bin Haji Apong, the Minister of Primary Resources and Tourism; and Dr Haji Abdul Manaf bin Haji Metussin, the Permanent Secretary at the MPRT.
The group’s first stop was at the Tungku Agriculture Development Area (KKP Tungku), an area assigned for foreign direct investment (FDI), Request for Proposal (RFP) and pilot projects focusing on high technology in farming.
There, the LegCo members were taken on a tour of KN Nursery (B) Sdn Bhd, a high-tech 1.112 hectare greenhouse focusing on the production of high value of orchids, ornamental plants, vegetables and herbs.
The area was first developed in 2013, and by 2015 the company had already produced about 17,989 ornamental plants.
Meanwhile, the company has set a target of producing 120,000 orchids for 2017 and 240,000 more by the year 2020.
The delegation’s next visit was to Sinar Tenaga Sdn Bhd, a pilot project on five hectares of land on Site A1 and 40 hectares on Site B, to produce high-tech and environmentally-friendly vegetables and fruit, including white bitter melon, golden fruit and rock melon.
Although the pilot project began only this year, the company already has plans to employ cultivation technology, with the use of LED and controlled environment enclosures.
Chantika Sdn Bhd, located at the Limpaki Agriculture Development Area, was the third site visited by the LegCo delegation.
Here the delegates were briefed on the company’s background, which included a closer look at how paddy seedlings were transplanted by using trays.
The company has been supplying seedlings since 2009 and has always employed this method to make paddy pla-nting more quick and efficient, compared to traditional and manual methods. It also regularly supplies 70,000 trays of paddy seedlings during farming season.
To learn more about the process of harvesting local paddy, the delegation was taken to the paddy and Rice Processing Centre located at the Wasan Agriculture Development Area.
The centre has been supporting local paddy production since 2009. It underwent an upgrade in terms of post-harvest management and paddy processing in 2014, with the installation of a high-tech rice mill possessing the capacity to grind 3.5 metric tonnes of paddy per hour and produce up to 5,800 metric tonnes of rice in a year.
From January to July this year, around 487 metric tonnes of rice from local paddy fields were being sold at local supermarkets such as Soon Lee Mega Mart and the Hua Ho Department Store.
The visit then continued to the Maya Breeder Farm at the Sungai Tajau Agriculture Development Area, which has been actively involved in poultry farming since 1998.
In an effort to boost productivity, the company shifted from conventional farming to high technology in 2008. Its production of broilers saw an increase from 334,953 in 2015 to 459,639 in 2016. Up to May 2017, the company was able to produce broiler products totalling 390,140 chickens.
The LegCo delegation next visited Eco Nadi Agrobiz at the Sinaut Agriculture Development Area, a pilot project yielding vegetable crops commercially on land covering 440 hectares. Up to May this year, the company had been producing 2,295 metric tonnes of red chillies and bird’s-eye chillies amounting to 0.167 metric tonnes.
The company has set a target of producing around 18 metric tonnes of red chillies by the end of this year.
The delegation then toured Golden Corporation Sdn Bhd, a 200-hectare prawn farm located at Sungai Penyatang, with a production target of 1,304 metric tonnes for 2017.
The company is expected to produce up to 7,350 metric tonnes of prawns annually and achieve $62 million worth of prawns by the year 2020 through the production of its very own type of Rostris Prawn seedlings.
This company, which also deals in fish food, livestock production and seafood process, has exported products to countries such as the United States of America, Australia, Japan, China and the Asean region.
The delegation’s visit ended at Golden Corporation’s seafood processing factory located at the Serambangun industrial site on an area of 25 hectares.
Golden Corporation has received accreditation from a number of bodies including Brunei Halal, ECOCERT, HACCP, China Organic and ISO 22000.
The factory’s production target for year 2017 is 7,343 metric tonnes, and is projected to produce up to a total of 16,685 metric tonnes seafood by 2020.
Overall Golden Corporation Sdn Bhd has 272 employees, with 133 of them local.
The MPRT working visit programme is scheduled to continue on August 2 with visits to other agricultural and fishery sites in the Belait District.
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