SIBU: The government is aggressively promoting the halal hub within the Sarawak Regional Corridor.

In stating this, Agriculture (Research and Marketing) Assistant Minister Datuk Mong Dagang added that the government plans to turn the surrounding area into cluster agricultural development area to supply agricultural products to feed Tanjung Manis Halal Hub.

Mong, who is also Bukit Begunan assemblyman, said this on Saturday in response to a question on whether the agropolitan project and oil palm-based industries to be implemented in Sabah Development Corridor, Samalaju Industrial Park and Halal hub in Sarawak Regional Corridor, outlined in Budget 2014 would help uplift the livelihood of rural folk in the state and eventually, reverse the rural-urban migration especially among the youths.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on Friday had announced that the government would allocate RM1.6 billion for development in the five regional corridors, when tabling Budget 2014.

“Therefore, the allocation in Budget 2014 shows the government’s seriousness to speed development of the area. I hope this will benefit the community in the surrounding area,” Mong said.

Meanwhile, a member of the public Kenneth Numan lauded the national budget as being people-oriented in particular to the lower income group.

Kenneth, however, said implementation wise, it must be done correctly and aggressively to prevent it from becoming a mere budget year in and year on.

“The budget also looks into the medical aspect of the society’s wellbeing by taking back the subsidy on sugar and building more 1Malaysia clinics,” he said.

*This article was published by Borneo Post Online. Read the original article here.