BAU: Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg came to a Chinese New Year dinner gathering with two presents – a waterfront development for Siniawan and a RM100 million upgrading of the 20-km old Bau road.
The chief minister said historical Siniawan Bazaar will have its own waterfront and that he will approve an allocation in due time.
“To make Siniawan more attractive there is a need for us to build better tourism infrastructure, which is why I am proposing the Siniawan waterfront,” Abang Johari said at a Chinese New Year dinner at Siniawan Community Hall here last night.
He noted that Siniawan has already had its own attractions such as cowboy nights, nice music and old buildings as its background.
He said the waterfront project would be another tourism product and he foresaw tourists going for a boat ride from Kuching Waterfront to Siniawan waterfront.
“At Siniawan Bazaar, tourists will have lunch or dinner, go through a Wild West experience Siniawan-style and then visit other tourism destinations around Siniawan, Tasik Biru, Fairy Cave and the historical Mount Peninjau where Rajah Brooke built his cottage.
“For this to happen, I would like DUN Serumbu and DUN Tasik Biru to merge their tourism products in order to add more attractions to draw tourists to Bau,” he said.
On the old Bau road upgrading project, he said although it is not in the current 11th Malaysia Plan he will ask the Public Works Department to upgrade the road using state funds.
He went on to assure that he will include the project in the 12th Malaysia Plan in 2021 with an estimated cost of RM100 million.
“The road will be upgraded, widened and will come complete with street lighting,” he said.
Earlier in his speech, Serembu assemblyman Miro Simuh had requested the chief minister to consider allocating funds to upgrade the more than 100-year old road.
Miro said the road condition is dangerous for motorists as it is too narrow and without street lighting.
Besides, he said, about 3,000 vehicles ply the road on a daily basis and these include about 1,000 lorries serving the quarries in Serembu.
At the function Abang Johari also presented Bumiputera Communal Reserve land title over Gunung Muan/Bukit Peninjau.
