KUCHING: Bukit Saban folk can benefit from modern agriculture, which Datuk Douglas Uggah plans to promote if he successfully retains his seat in the election.

       He said with the people there having plenty of land, the way to gainfully develop them is through technology-based agriculture.

       Uggah said that two agro parks in Bebuling and Lubok Tamang had already been approved.

       “These will be modern agricultural centres. Modern agriculture is all about increasing the people’s income by giving productivity a boost,” he said after launching the Paku River cleaning and beautification campaign at Spaoh waterfront on Friday (Dec 10).

       Uggah was one of the two deputy chief ministers in the Gabungan Parti Sarawak coalition government.

       Previously having served as Betong MP since 1986, Uggah was roped in to contest for the Bukit Saban state seat in the 2016 state polls.

       Spaoh is located in the Betong division, about 250km from the city.

       Uggah said he would encourage farmers to diversify their activities instead of being over-reliant on commodities like pepper and palm oil.

       “There are downstream processing activities which they need to explore,” he said.

       He also said the construction of an airport at Bebuling, to be ready in 2023, would help fly agricultural products to the markets.

       Uggah said his other priority would be education and the people need to be technology savvy to access new knowledge and to do business.