Prawn
Companies Sign Agreement on
Rental of Aquaculture Sites
JERUDONG, 21 June 2006,
Wednesday - The signing ceremony of agreement on rental of aquaculture
sites was held at Holiday Lodge, Jerudong.
The signing ceremony took
place between the Department of Fisheries under the Ministry of Industry
and Primary Resources and 12 prawn farming companies, including one
company engaged in crab farming.
The organisations which
signed the rental agreement for aquaculture sites are Syarikat Tuah Maju
Multifood Sdn Bhd, Syarikat S. Kota Sdn Bhd, Syarikat Kamila
Construction Sdn Bhd, Syarikat Sujuyo Sdn Bhd, Syarikat Usaha Asilati
Sdn Bhd, Syarikat Hoei Fisheries Development Sdn Bhd, Syarikat Semaun
Aquaculture Sdn Bhd, Syarikat Greenville Farm and Food Industries Sdn
Bhd, Syarikat Norjaidah Enterprise, Syarikat Perusahaan Cempaka Abadi,
Syarikat HT Enterprise and Syarikat DuaoDua Fisheries.
Present as the guest of
honour was Dato Paduka Haji Mohd Hamid bin Haji Mohd Jaafar, Permanent
Secretary at the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources.
Also in attendance were
Hajah Hasnah binti Ibrahim, Director of Fisheries cum Event Chairperson,
Fisheries Department, Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources, Dr
George Chamberlain, President of Global Aquaculture Alliance, Head of
Departments and Senior Officers as well as Aquaculture Industrialists.
According to the Director
of Fisheries, three companies were allocated the aquaculture site at
Pangkalan Sibabau Phase I and four companies were allocated the site at
Pangkalan Sibabau Phase II, both areas 50 hectares in size, located in
the Brunei Muara District Area.
Meanwhile, five other
companies were allocated an area of 92 hectares at Kampung Keramut and
another company was allocated an area of 38 hectares at Tunggulian,
located in the Tutong District.
The guest of honour, in his
speech, stated that the global revenues for seafood amount to 70 million
metric tonnes where more than 30 per cent of it is contributed by the
aquaculture industry. Within these two decades, the annual increase in
fish landing has decreased to one per cent, while aquaculture industries
production has increased to 10 per cent.
This trend shows a positive
prospect in the aquaculture industries, predominantly in the
prawn-farming sector, which brought in revenue of 2 million metric
tonnes worth US$ 8 billion.
However, in Brunei
Darussalam, the aquaculture industry is expected to produce consistent
revenue of B$200 million every year until 2023. Out of that amount,
approximately B$113 million is to be generated from prawn farming
activities.
Up until today, the
development of aquaculture industry has helped stimulate the growth rate
in the fisheries industry, where in turn the fisheries industry has
successfully contributed to the Gross National Product from 0.2% ($12.3
million) in 1984, to 1.0% ($81.7 million) in 2003.
To ensure the efficient
expansion of prawn farming activities, the Government of His Majesty,
through the National Development Plan projects has prepared the basis of
infrastructure such as roads, electricity, seawater, clean water and
telephones at aquaculture sites.
The government hopes that
more local entrepreneurs are keen in exploring the export market.
Although some entrepreneurs have started exporting to Hong Kong, US and
Japan, the amount is still minimal. For example, the amount of fish
exports in 2000 is B$1.03 million while in 2005, there was only a slight
increase to $3.0 million.
The guest of honour
highlighted that to achieve the objective of increasing the export of
seafood, it is important to ensure that the products to be exported are
competitive enough to compete in international market. This can only be
achieved by using advanced technology that is more efficient and
effective in producing larger quantities and premium products.
- Courtesy of
Borneo Bulletin -
