“Sibu has to become a modern town. If there is too much water, make a big lake and construct canals to manage the water just like in the Netherlands, Belgium and Singapore that can attract tourism,” he said.

He said this at the “Makam Malam Pemimpin Bersama Komuniti Bahagian Sibu” event here tonight.

Abang Johari said that once developed, the modern and smart town of Sibu will have its own character and the spillovers will span as far as Kapit and Sarikei.

“The development will take beyond 2035. This means there will be a lot of economic activities in Sibu. But don’t say that when I say today it will not happen tomorrow. Rome was not built in one day,” he said.

Apart from Bukit Assek which has a size of 201 hectares and is no longer suitable for residential because of water-logging and social issues, Kampung Datu area too will be redeveloped to change the landscape of Sibu.

He said a certain quarter will tend to fan an issue out of the redevelopment of Sibu for their political gain thus to make the project happen the state government need cooperation from the Sibu populace.

On another note, the Premier reiterated that the state’s income for this year will be more than RM12 billion as recorded last year.

“Up till June this year, the figure has reached more than last year. I cannot reveal the actual figure to you but if the trend is like this, we will increase our revenue and we will give back to the development of our State,” he said.

-- BERNAMA