IPOH: Perak is actively promoting products and industries at New Villages in the state. State domestic trade, cooperatives, consumer affairs and Chinese new villages committee chairman Woo Kah Leong said every New Village development officer had been instructed to propose suitable products and industries which could be promoted.
Woo said he would convene another meeting with development officers at the end of the month to identify suitable products or industries.
“When I mention products it does not necessarily mean food or beverages, but I encourage new industries to be developed.
“For example, I understand there is a company in Kinta producing garbage bags that can decompose waste stored inside within a certain period. The owner of the company is actually from Kampung Pasir Laut in Bagan Datuk.
“I have encouraged the owner to establish a branch in the village (Kampung Pasir Laut) to stimulate the local economy, create job opportunities, and help reduce waste problems in the fishing village,” he said when replying to a question posed by Angeline Koo Haai Yen (PH-Keranji) at the state assembly sitting in Ipoh today.
Koo had asked about the state's plans to promote products and industries in new villages along with plans to attract youths back to their respective villages to develop the local economy.
Woo said he wanted to ensure every New Village had something to be proud of. He also said the state hoped to organise a Chinese New Village expo by the end of the year to gather all the products from the different villages to be promoted through the state government’s platform.
“If the Local Government and Housing ministry intends to organise a National Chinese New Village Expo this year, I will try to seize the opportunity and ask the minister to hold it in Perak first so that it can be a warm-up for the state before a more specific and comprehensive event is held at the end of next year,” he added.
On the question of getting more youths to come back to the new villages, Woo said the phenomenon of young people looking for work in urban areas was not uncommon.
He said the state was concerned about this and always strives to make new villages suitable for settlement, in addition to economic activities.
“Therefore, my office always conveys the concept of “place making " adopted by Japan and Taiwan to realise this goal to ensure that new villages that are economically dead and have no progress can be transformed," he said. The assembly adjourned sine die.
