Fisheries Sector Gets Shot in the Arm
MUARA, 15 May 2010,
Saturday - Seafood storage, processing centre established
IN ITS efforts to further enhance the role of the fishing industry in
Brunei's economic growth and diversification, the Department of
Fisheries has built a Seafood Storage, Handling and Processing Centre at
the Fisheries Landing Complex in Muara.
Director of Fisheries Hjh Hasnah Ibrahim in an interview said, the
centre was being built to attract small and medium entrepreneurs by
giving them access to facilities to develop their businesses and produce
high quality products for local consumption and eventually expand into
the export market.
Hjh Hasnah said a lack of facilities has been a barrier to the growth of
the fishing industry in Brunei.
"The domestic market is limited, so surplus fish catch is thrown away
since there is no where to freeze and store it, and during fishing
seasons the price of fish is very low," she said.
The new centre not only aims to provide the facilities to overcome this,
but also hopes to teach the process and procedures to ensure food safety
and quality.
"Food safety is paramount and in the domestic market people are becoming
more aware about the quality of their food," she said.
She went on to say that "The local businesses also have to compete with
imports. If they can raise their standards they can compete on quality
and freshness."
Eventually, Hjh Hasnah added, operations should grow and knowledge on
hygiene and food safety standards will be passed on, meaning that export
of products would be possible.
For this plan to succeed, the director stressed that private businesses
have to work in tandem with the government.
"We have set up the facilities and made it easier to operate; now we
need business to come in and do the work. It won't succeed if the
private sector doesn't follow standards," she said.
The centre has two cold storage units with a capacity of 100 metric
tonnes and three more with a capacity of 20 metric tonnes.
Each unit is equipped with a blast freezer. It also has five units of
processing space and a smoke processing plant which can produce one
metric tonne of seafood products a day.
The facilities will be rented out and interested parties are to apply
via open tender.
Receipt of tenders should be opened in approximately two months.
According to a press release from the Department of Fisheries, the
facilities have been built based on seafood processing guidelines to
fulfil the export requirements to allow the products to meet the food
safety standards, Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point, required by
the European Union and other countries worldwide.
The seafood products produced will be certified in compliance with food
safety standards for local and export markets and pass contamination
tests prior to export by the Fish Inspection and Quality Control
Laboratory, which has received ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation.
The premises will also be inspected to ensure these requirements are
fulfilled and will be licensed under Fish Processing Licences issued by
the Department of Fisheries.
The $4.3 million building was officially handed over to the Fisheries
Department with the presentation of a mock key of the centre by acting
deputy director general of Public Works Department Hjh Marhani Abdullah
to Hjh Hasnah. Present at the ceremony was Minister of Industry and
Primary Resources Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Utama Dato Seri Setia Hj Yahya
Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Hj Bakar, who toured the new facilities.
- Courtesy of
the Brunei Times -
