KUCHING: A Batu Kitang River Tourism Corridor project has been proposed as part of a plan to develop the villages in the Batu Kitang constituency.
Federal Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri said she thanked Batu Kitang assemblyman Lo Khere Chiang for his commitment in coming up with the proposal and she will submit it for consideration under the 12th Malaysian Plan.
“The villages in Batu Kitang area has many great tourism products which can be further developed and promoted,” she said at the ‘Lan Berambeh at Batu Kitang’ programme at Kampung Batu Kitang Lama on Sunday.
She said as there is a river along Kampung Batu Kitang Lama, it can be further developed into a tourist attraction.
“We want to fully capitalise on this area. As the ministry is now promoting domestic tourism, from this we can even bring back the river taxi service — thus attracting locals and tourists to visit the area,” she pointed out.
She added there are various tourist attractions and products to promote the area and create more economic opportunities, such as the Nirvana Memorial Park, Buddhism New Village, and kompang (traditional Malay music instrument).
“Therefore, I hope all the MPs and elected representatives (ADUNs) will play a role in promoting the tourism products in their respective constituencies by identifying 10 potential tourism products,” she said.
Nancy later also announced an allocation of RM3,000 each to the Village Security and Development Committees (JKKKs) from 18 villages to run their activities.
Meanwhile, Lo explained that the proposed project would cover cost about RM30 million.
“This project will involve five villages, namely Kampung Batu Kitang, Batu Kitang Jaya, Kampung Lidah Tanah, Kampung Bungai Rampai and Kampung Bukit Panchor.
“With an investment in this project, it will create economic opportunities for the residents in Batu Kitang,” he said.
Lo said Batu Kitang has beautiful scenery surrounded by nature and would definitely help in attracting tourists.
“I will continue to play my part in bringing development and promoting the tourism products here,” he said.
