LIMBANG: Various initiatives must be put in place to attract visitors to continue visiting the district.
In stating this, Deputy Minister of Modernisation of Agriculture Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Ismail said this was because the Brunei government has allowed foreign registered vehicles to use the Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien (SHOAS) Bridge.
“Hence, with this development, it will indeed have an impact on Limbang district.
“This is because Limbang will be bypassed as vehicles from Lawas that go to Miri no longer need to enter Limbang district and likewise vehicles from Miri that go to Lawas or to Sabah with only Malaysian registered heavy vehicles not allowed to pass through the bridge,” he was quoted as saying by Sarawak Public Communications Unit (UKAS) in a news report.
Hence the need to have more activities to attract people to continue to visit Limbang.
“For instance, we will have three big programme which is the Village Entrepreneurs Carnival organised by the Ministry of Rural Development (KPLB) from Sept 30 to Oct 2; the Badudun Festival and the Buffalo Race organised by the Limbang Malay Association in collaboration with the Limbang Resident Office on Oct 14 until 16 as well as the Chinese Community Cultural Festival at the end of next month.
“Therefore, these activities will encourage people to come, including Bruneians to come. If this (activity) continues, people will always visit Limbang and not just for transit purposes,” he said.
He added that the tourism facilities in the district also need to be diversified as tourist attractions.
The SHOAS Bridge, spanning 26.3 kilometres across the Brunei Bay which connects the Temburong district to Bandar Seri Begawan, was opened to the public on March 17, 2020.
The bridge shortens the local commuters’ travel time to the capital to less than 30 minutes.
Before the opening of the bridge, travellers from Temburong were required to take a 45-minute boat ride across the bay or drive two hours through Limbang and go through four border checkpoints before reaching the capital.
Earlier, Dr Abdul Rahman who is also the Bukit Sari assemblyman was attending the Saberkas Prihatin programme held in conjunction with the Malaysia Day celebration at Kampung Bakol Hall.
At the event, a total of 50 needy people including people with disabilities (OKU), single mothers and senior citizens from three villages namely Kampung Bakol, Kampung Bukit Luba and Kampung Agong Tua received food baskets from the Saberkas Bukit Kota branch.
In addition, Dr Abdul Rahman also announced an allocation of RM30,000 to upgrade the facilities at the Kampung Bakol Hall and to purchase chairs for the Kampung Bakol Darul Taqwa Mosque.
