Work together to develop agricultural land

SADONG JAYA: People from all walks of life in Sarawak are asked to always maintain relationships and collaborate with each other to develop their respective area, especially in the field of agriculture.

Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Port Development, Datuk Ir Aidel Lariwoo said the Bugis in Sarawak can work together with other races such as the Iban, Malay, Chinese and so on to jointly develop agricultural land in the state.

He said this in his speech when officiating at the 2023 Bugis Cultural Tourism Festival at the Panggung Udara Sadong Jaya, on Friday.

Aidel, who is also the Sadong Jaya assemblyman, said that the Bugis culture here is still preserved such as its unique foods.

Therefore, he wants other form of Bugis culture such as dance, marriage customs that are quite different and unique to be used or highlighted as a tourism product to attract more visitors to this area.

Earlier, Aidel together with state secretary Datuk Amar Mohamad Abu Bakar Marzuki and a delegation from Indonesia were welcomed upon arrival with a parade according to Bugis customs.

The Bugis Cultural Tourism Festival 2023 was a collaboration programme between the Pertubuhan Komuniti Warisan dan Kebudayaan Bugis, Sadong Jaya and Forum Komunikasi Orang Bugis (FKOB), Kalimantan Barat , which featured some of the Bugis ethnic cultural customs.

The festival also received support from the Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts through the Facilitation Fund for Heritage, Arts and Culture.

In the meantime, Aidel said the festival can be a starting platform for bilateral cooperation with the Bugis community abroad starting from the grassroots level to the leadership level while generating the local community’s economy as well as stimulating the domestic economy through the visits of tourists.