MINISTER of Home Affairs Pehin Orang Kaya Johan Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Hj Adanan Begawan Pehin Siraja Khatib Dato Seri Setia Hj Md Yusof yesterday inaugurated a $100,000 community hall at Kg Selapon in Temburong District.
The construction of the community hall began in May last year and it was completed in early August of this year.
The hall has two rooms, two offices and a kitchen. The community hall was a project funded by the Temburong District Office Provision Fund.
The newly-constructed community hall in Kg Selapon is expected to provide the residents with a more conducive environment for muzakarah (dialogue session) and Pehin Dato Hj Adanan urged the residents to use the venue for activities aimed at strengthening unity among the villagers.
The Minister of Home Affairs was on a working visit to the district, during which he reviewed economic development projects launched by the Government of His Majesty for the uplift of people of five villages in Temburong. On arrival, the minister and his delegation were greeted by the sound of traditional music with young girls wearing the Iban and Murut traditional costumes to make it a colourful event
The minister began his tour with a visit to Kg Senukoh where he officially launched the Kg Senukoh women bureau village consultative council's noodle production project at the village community hall.
Here Pehin Dato Hj Adanan had the opportunity to experience first hand the process of making the noodles, from mixing the ingredients to its packaging.
Aimed at making women self-reliant, the project, which employed 34 women, began with a capital of about $5,000 on November 20, 2008. Just after one month, the women not only own a noodle making machine but also have reaped profit of more than $1,000.
The delegation then proceeded to visit Kg Piasau-piasau where it reviewed the village consultative council's coconut plantation project.
Kg Piasau-piasau, which literally means 'coconut village' in Malay, has earmarked about one acre of land for coconut plantation. However, there are plans to increase the land area depending on the success of the project.
In addition, the council also plans to produce coconut-based products such as kerisik (grinded, fried coconut powder), minyak supa (coconut oil), penyemat and penyapu lidi. Also on the list are handicrafts made from coconut husks and shells.
Soon after that, the delegation headed off to Kg Labu Estate, where Pehin Dato Hj Adanan launched the sheep-rearing project by the Labu Estate village consultative council.
The project started with only four sheep on December 22, 2007 but almost after one year the villagers have 17 sheep housed in an area of less than one acre. The visit also provided the council the opportunity to voice out their concerns on the project.
The visit then continued to Kg Batu Apoi, where Pehin Dato Hj Adanan launched the village consultative council's economic project of ambulung (sago) production.
A demonstration on sago extraction was also conducted, giving visitors a glimpse of how the traditional delicacy is made from scratch.
The delegation's final destination was Kg Ujung Jalan, where the laying of a house (rumah bantuan) foundation for Sulaiman Hj Mat Zin was done.
Sulaiman currently lives in a dilapidated house with six other family members. The cost of building the house is being financed by Pelita Alam Sdn Bhd.
In the afternoon, the minister and his delegation attended a dialogue session with the members of the Mukim Batu Apoi and Mukim Labu Estate village consultative councils at the multi-purpose hall of the Bumiputera Complex in Bangar Town. The dialogue served as a platform for members of the village consultative councils to voice out their problems and issues as well as proposing solutions.
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