Charting Sibu town’s dramatic 30-year transformation

by Jane Moh.

DOWN MEMORY LANE: (From right) Tiong, Ngieng, Wong and Hii look at historical pictures of Sibu.

SIBU: Sibu has undergone 30 years of major transformation, particularly in creating a more conducive environment for its people and surrounding areas.

Minister of Local Government and Community Development Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh said this when launching the Sibu Development Exhibition at the Sibu Trade and Exhibition Centre yesterday.

“If I were to recall 30 years ago, Sibu was not as tidy, neat or as beautiful as it is today. I can still recall vividly that there were hawker stalls everywhere, along the roads and at the back lanes.

“I remember that the Lembangan market was very messy and to a certain extent was very dirty and people had to endure that sort of environment to do their trading and purchasing,” he said.

Over the past 30 years, he said, the local government had turned a number of roads into dual carriageways and introduced traffic light systems to ease traffic congestion.

To increase connectivity, he said, the local government established numerous bridges linking Sibu to other parts of the town.

He said the development Sibu has experienced would serve as the beginning for greater transformation in future.

There would be 10 major industries, he said, as the engine of growth for the state with the implementation of the Sarawak Corridor Of Renewable Energy (SCORE).

He said an Australian investor had visited the state to discuss the possibility of setting up a smelting plant recently.

“If they do so, that single company would increase our gross domestic product (GDP) by 20 per cent and there are so many industries as well,” he said.

He believed that the next few years would be a period of unprecedented economic growth for the central region, and Sibu, being one of the hubs, would benefit as well.

Wong urged young people to study hard to qualify themselves for the high income society of the future.

“We must create a conducive physical, economical, social and political environment for all of us to live, work and prosper,” he said.

Among those present were Sibu Resident Sim Kok Kee, Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) chairman Datuk Tiong Thai King, deputy chairman Daniel Ngieng, Temenggong Vincent Lau Lee Ming, SMC secretary Hii Chang Kee and Sibu District Officer Wong See Meng.

[Source : Borneo Post Online posted on October 29, 2011, Saturday]