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Many keen to restart Rajang River cruise

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Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah

SIBU: The Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Ministry have received a number of queries from interested parties to restart the Rajang River cruise.

Its minister, Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, told a press conference here on Saturday night after launching the Kuching Waterfront Jazz Festival that the proposed cruise might not be similar to the previous high-end RV Orient Pandaw cruise.

The first-ever nine-day Pandaw cruise along the 640km mighty Rajang River was introduced in July 2009 but was discontinued in 2012. Its clients were mostly foreign tourists who were charged more than RM9,000 each.

The 827-tonne, 30-cabin river cruise ship was operated by Irrawaddy Flotilla Company (IFC). Since its inaugural voyage on July 1, 2009, more than 2,000 tourists had joined the popular ‘Into The Heart Of Borneo’ cruise throughout its two-and-a-half year operation.

The company said the project was commercially unsuccessful because of logistical and operational difficulties.

The Rajang River cruise offers tourists magnificent views of nature. The river is also dotted with many Iban longhouses.

Abdul Karim

“There are queries to restart the Rajang River cruise. If the plan materialises, it will be very good as Sibu is a very good market for eco-tourism,” said Abdul Karim.

The minister said with the ongoing construction of a road to Kapit, the tourism sector might bloom in the near future.

“One of the areas we are looking at, is adventure and nature as Sibu is considered a gateway to the hinterlands,” he added.

To make Sibu a popular destination for eco-tourism, he said it was now up to its people and local authorities to upgrade its facilities and come up with more tourist events.

On direct international flights to Sibu, Abdul Karim said they would not happen too soon due to the load factor.

“Kuching and Miri also want them. I can’t promise for Sibu. Once the market is good in the state capital (Kuching), only then we can ask,” he said.

On the Sibu-Singapore sector, he said a lot of discussions were needed with airlines first before the flights could be implemented.

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