| Azaraimy HH |
THE Information Department yesterday organised a visit to the Department of Fisheries in Serasa under its ‘Informed Society’ programme, an initiative of the department to foster a better informed society and to ensure that the community understands the polices and efforts of the government in developing the country.
Yesterday’s visit was held for the Kampong Penanjong Village Consultative Council.
Head of Information Department Tutong District Branch and Chairman of the initiative Hasanul Hidayat bin Haji Abu Bakar said the programme is a platform to deliver information on government policies to communities through briefings, dialogues and field trips.
He said the agenda and places of visits of the programme are based on choices made by the village councils, adding that the Information Department has chosen a number of village councils in the Tutong District.
At the Department of Fisheries in Serasa, the visiting village council team was briefed by Fisheries Officer at the Department of Fisheries Noor Dafinah binti Haji Jelani, on matters related to the fisheries industry which was followed by a dialogue session.
The programme also included a visit to Helif Aquaculture Sdn Bhd at the Prawn Breeding Area in Mentiri Zone II where the visitors had a closer look at production of high quality Rostris blue shrimp.
Praising the initiative, Kam-pong Penanjong Village Head Haji Jumat bin Haji Kadir said the ‘Informed Society’ programme, in particular the visit yesterday, provided the participants with valuable insight into the nation’s effort in developing its fishing industry as well as fishing operations, in particular prawn farming.
“As we understood, prawn farming is not a small scale business operation. In fact, it needs large capital outlay and land area,” he said.
“After listening to the briefing and closely watching the prawn farming operation, I realised that there is a massive opportunity for prawn farming in the country, with a big potential for exports and creation of employment. I believe Kampong Penanjong holds potential to be developed as a prawn farming area.
“In the past, Kampong Penanjong had made an effort to develop prawn farming through forign direct investment. There is an area in Penanjong that had been studied and found suitable. The area spanning around 150 hectares was initially earmarked for paddy cultivation but later found to be unsuitable for the purpose. One foreign company found that the area was suitable for prawn farming but the project did not go through,” he said.
“The village consultative council hopes the idea of building an aquaculture farm in the village can be a reality one day.
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