PAGOH: The newly-established educational hub of Bandar Universiti Pagoh (BUP) here has tremendous potential to emerge as a self-contained and fully developed township, while, transforming the sleepy Muar-suburb of Pagoh.
BUP, is home to the campus of four different universities and a polytechnic, namely the International Islamic University Malaysia, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia ICA Research Centre and Tun Syed Nasir Polytechnic.
Clearly, more needs to be done to push development of the area, particularly in terms of infrastructure.
BUP also looks set to have an immense spillover benefits for locals, especially in improving economic activities involving them. But, to further boost development of the area, the manufacturing sector clearly needs attention.
One person who has really high expectations for the BUP, is, the newly-elected Pekan Pagoh village chief, Baharudin Tumin.
He said prior to the area being gazetted an education hub, economic activities were concentrated only on agriculture, mainly plantation crops.
“Before the BUP as established, the whole of Pagoh comprised estates with agriculture and livestock activities matching the Pekan Pagoh’s population of 1,000.
“But, now, the population has increased and this is driving the economy of the people with the emergence of homestay, restaurants, supermarkets as well as houses for rental,” he told Bernama when met recently.
However, the economic spark has been almost only limited to the older generation of pensioners and retirees who have built houses to match demand from university students and staff.
“Some residents of Pagoh have returned to their village to undertake business and there are also outsiders doing the same, particularly in the Pagoh Jaya area.
‘‘The presence of the outsiders is not a problem if it brings about healthy business competition. The opening of cafes by these outsiders has also provided employment opportunities for locals,” Baharuddin said.
As this scenario has clearly benefitted locals who possessed land, it is clearly unable to attract the younger generation to settle down in the area.
Baharudin said four out of five textile companies operating in Pagoh had closed down or scaled back their operations. The companies are Sin Wah Industries Bhd, Wetex Industries Sdn Bhd, Hong Yi Industries and Pagoh Industries Sdn Bhd.
Another enthusiastic local leader, Mohd Azhari Bidin who served as the Penghulu Mukim Lenga for more than 10 years said the two-year old BUP had brought changes in terms of the socio-economy and had resulted in more locals searching for jobs in the town area.
“For example, they look for jobs in the new restaurants and cafes there, alongside downstream industries as well as small medium enterprises involved in the manufacture of traditional delicacies such as rempeyek, kuih karas and bahulu, which are much in demand and have a wide market.
Lenga is a 711,000 hectare-district under the Pagoh constituency, with a population of 12,000.
According to Mohd Azhari, demand for traditional delicacies has hugely increased and surpassed the supply.
“Similar to homestays, demand is very high on weekends and during the registration week along with houses to rent. We project that the spillover in demand will reach Lenga as Pagoh town cannot accommodate the number of students and university staff,’ he said.
Commenting on the overall development of the constituency, he noted that the development of the area was deemed as slow and less exhilarating prior to the establishment of the BUP.
“The population was small and even the no eating shops available was only frequented by us and the town lacked real liveliness.
“The younger generation after school continue their studies elsewhere and rarely come back. But, if there was a vibrant industrial area within the BUP and job opportunities available for them there, they might return,” Mohd Azhari.
Pagoh is located in the middle of two towns abuzz with activity, Muar, which is 54 km away and Segamat (48km).
However, for the younger generation, the opportunities the BUP, developed by Sime Darby Property Bhd with a total gross development value (GDV) of RM6.2 billion, has yet to match their expectations, especially in terms of careers.
The master plan for the BUP includes an industrial park, but it is not known when it would become a reality.
According to Sime Darby Property, the development of its 91-hectare-industrial park with a GDV of RM362 million, is divided into a few phases.
The first phase of the industrial park on a 23.88 hectare land, includes the main infrastructure, which is currently about 80 per cent complete.
“We are looking at small to medium sized enterprises with the focus on logistics, warehousing, service centres and furniture showrooms, as it is strategically located between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, with excellent accessibility and prominent highway frontage afforded by the North-South Expressway,” the property company said when contacted by Bernama.
Mohd Azhari said Pagoh Member of Parliament Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin visited the constituency in January this year and in his speech, he mentioned creating a high-technology industrial area for Pagoh-born youths who studied at the BUP.
Another local who wants to be known as Dollah and who left Pagoh to settle in Kuala Lumpur, said more could be done to spur the economy of the locals in the township.
“Perhaps, we could start a food truck programme near the university area, with each of the 10 villages in the Pagoh constituency getting one food truck. The villagers could share the cost or take turns daily to monitor the business,” he said.
He elaborated that the food truck business is a business that is close to the heart of youths when compared with opening cafes and restaurants, which is a tedious process with an expensive price tag.
“Maybe it is something to be ponder as youths are familiar with the concept and it could attract the same-age generation as customers,” he said.
Meanwhile, Nasuha Kasian, the famous Pagoh-bred entrepreneur who started the “Mak Siti” herbs and spices brand, said thanks to the BUP, the area is now better developed and locals had benefitted from the education hub’s economic spark.
“For me in particular, I have a plantation and herbal farm (Nasuha Herbal farm) where I spend a lot on research and development (R&D) in terms of scientific cost.
“But with the establishment of universities in Pagoh, we have been able to reduce our R&D expenditure by utilising their laboratory facilities and skilled expertise. It is not easy to obtain such expertise which is only available at the universities,” he added.
Nasuha said that collaboration in the biotechnology area between the universities and his business, had seen the laboratories being synchronised with his herbal farm.
This has in turn made it convenient for both parties in terms of R&D and helped speed up the growth of the Malaysian herbs and spices industry.
Pagoh has potential to grow exponentially. It just needs the right spark for this and the industrial park could be it.- Bernama
