SIMANGGANG, Oct 25 — Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg today announced Sri Aman town will revert to its original name of Simanggang, following requests from the local communities.

He said the state Cabinet agreed to the requests submitted through the Simanggang assemblyman Datuk Francis Harden anak Tini.

“Today, I declare the name of this town as Simanggang,” he said at the launch of Tidal Bore Festival here.

He said the change of name takes immediate effect.

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However, Abang Johari said the name of administrative divisional headquarters will remain Sri Aman.

Sri Aman Division contains two administrative districts — Sri Aman and Lubok Antu — and the sub-districts of Engkilili, Pantu and Lingga.

The division a population of 93,379 that are mostly Iban, Malay and Chinese.

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The chief minister said Simanggang has a unique history, adding that on October 31, 1973 the then Chief Minister the late Tun Abdul Rahman Yakub signed a peace agreement with a communist leader Bong Kee Chok that resulted in the communist elements to give up their armed struggle and surrender to the state government.

Following the peace agreement, the town of Simanggang was renamed Sri Aman.

However, Abang Johari said before the signing of the peace agreement, there was another peace agreement was signed in 1924 among the feuding tribal leaders.

He said it is for this reason that the local communities want the name of the town to be reverted to Simanggang.

“The local communities just to have the old name back otherwise people will not know where is Simanggang,” he said.