SIBU: Officials at Sibu Rural District Council (SRDC) are hoping the four main festivals annually organised by the council will be listed in the state tourism calendar next year.

Pesta Selangau, Pesta Sibu Jaya, Pesta Simfoni Batang Rajang and Pesta Durin are deemed to have great potential as tourism products in rural areas and to boost the local population’s economy.

SRDC Chairman, Sempurai Petrus Ngelai, therefore urged the council members and staff to prepare preliminary paperwork to be submitted to the Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts to obtain funding to organise them.

“I recently contacted Datuk Snowdan Lawan, who is the deputy minister of the ministry, and he told me that the paperwork regarding the festivals should be sent early for his attention,” he said during the closing ceremony of Pesta Durin 2022 on Today (Nov 28).

Sempurai noted that SRDC sometimes faced financial constraints when organising these festivals, hence if included in the tourism calendar it will make it easier for the council to organise them with funding from the ministry.

“I hope that the members of the council commit to that purpose to ensure the festivals we organise can be held annually from next year on a bigger scale,” he said.

“Everything must start from the council to improve the organising of the festivals before the benefits can be enjoyed by the residents. We at the council level play an important role for the people under our administrative area,” he added.

Meanwhile, Pesta Durin organising chairman, Teo Boon Siew said the festival had been able to attract about 20,000 visitors over three days (Nov 25-27).

He described it as an indication that the festival was able to attract visitors from nearby districts and residents around Durin.
“If this festival can be organised annually, I’m sure many of us in Durin will benefit from it,” he said.

Also present were the SRDC Acting Secretary Chiong Siew Ping and others.