Sarawak for Sarawakians to rule
Abang Johari cautions against the perils of Sarawak being ruled by outsiders who do not know local situations
KUCHING: Sarawak must be ruled by Sarawakians and Sarawak-based political parties, said Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.
Launching the inaugural Sarawak AgroFest 2018 yesterday, he said he would look for innovative and holistic ways to develop the state.
As such, he said only Sarawakians can look after Sarawak well since non-Sarawakians might not have a clue about places in Sarawak given the state’s size.
“Sarawak must be governed by Sarawakians and Sarawak parties. They (non- Sarawakians) do not know much about Sarawak.
“Let’s say we want to develop Batang Ai, they do not even know where Batang Ai is,” he said at the launch that took place at the Penview Convention Centre (PCC) Demak here.
Abang Johari pointed out that the Sarawak state government is led by GPS ( Gabungan Parti Sarawak), which is also an acronym for Global Positioning System.
“We have direction and we have
Sarawak must be governed by Sarawakians and Sarawak parties. They (non-Sarawakians) do not know much about Sarawak. Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg, Chief Minister
policies that are consistent. Once we say it, we do it. Unlike some others, they promise but never deliver,” he said.
The Chief Minister said Sarawak government wanted agriculture to be an important sector to be the new source of wealth for the state, and emphasised that the perception on this sector should be changed as it had the potential to generate good revenue for those involved in it.
Earlier, Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, who is also Minister of Modernisation of Agriculture, Nat ive Land and Regional Development, said the event provided an opportunity for farmers, fishermen and breeders to engage in networking and business matching.
KUCHING: The Grading, Packaging and Labelling ( GPL) regulation for Sarawak was launched by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg during the Sarawak AgroFest 2018 yesterday.
The new regulation is a standard enforced by the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority ( Fama) to enhance the standard and quality of export products.
Under the GPL regulation, products are graded, packaged and labelled to ensure that they are safe for consumption before they are marketed outside the country.
Products that are meant for export must be graded according to the Fama Standard ( FS) or Malaysia Standard ( MS).
For instance, they are graded into Premium, 1 or 2 in terms of quality as well as XL, L, M or S in terms of size.
The grades are given based on certain aspects including freshness of the products.
On packaging, products must not weigh more than 30kg to facilitate product handling so as to cut the risk of damage to the products.
All products must be properly labelled to include information such as name and address of the exporter; name, size, grade, weight and country of origin of the products to enable traceability.
The GPL regulation has been implemented in Peninsular Malaysia since July 1, 2011 and in Sabah on Oct 30 last year.
In Sarawak, supermarkets that presently adopt the GPL regulation include Giant, Mydin, Aeon, Emart and Boulevard.
It is hoped that with the GPL regulation in place, Malaysia as well as Sarawak will enhance product value, ensure the safety of products, boost market confidence and stay competitive in the global arena.
Joining Abang Johari at the launch was Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, who is also Minister of Modernisation of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development.