October 8, 2010

Borneo to reopen 20 agricultural stations

Borneo has planned to re-operate its 20 agricultural stations next year and recruit a total of 104 staff members.

Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu Numpang said yesterday that the suggestion to revive the stations was approved by the state cabinet.

"We want to revive the stations so that there are frontliners in rural areas. It will be done next year. We need to repair buildings, get offices organised and also recruit the staff. We are working on the recruitment with the State Secretary and State Public Commission," he said.

Jabu said the revival of the stations would help the state provide necessary assistance to the people, especially rural folks.

"With the intensifying of government activities in rural areas, we feel that these stations, which used to be active, needed to be revamped and revived. For that, we are setting up 20 (stations) in rural areas so that our agricultural staff can be nearer to the rural people," he said.

The decision to revive the stations was a reaction to people's request, adding that the stations were closed about eight to 10 years ago. Earlier he said his recommendation to revive at least 20 stations had been accepted by the state government.

He said he had suggested that the Tarat Agriculture Research Station be made an 'empurau' research centre of the world under the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP).

"At the same time, we want to expand the Tarat Indigenous Fisheries Research and Production Centre to carry out more research into fish like empurau and semah. We are in the final deal with Mosti (Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation)," he said.

The potential revenue from empurau was very promising as the fish could fetch up to RMB780 (US$116.9) per kg in Kuala Lumpur and RMB1,000 (US$149.88) per kilogramme in China, revealed Jabu.

He said empurau was a niche market that should be further explored by the state.