SARIKEI, June 23 — Sarawak Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg today expressed confidence that the state will be able to sustain economically during the recovery movement control order (RMCO) period.

This positive outlook, he said, can be attributed to the projects implemented by the state government, which he believes can create supply chain and business opportunities for the people.

“We can recover from this economic stoppage for the last three months and now we are going ahead (to implement the projects) that will give opportunities for the business community because as you know the chain value...the supply chain will be there.

“We start with the projects and the rest will come in,” he said when officiating the groundbreaking ceremony for the Sarikei Integrated Administrative Centre (IAC) here today.

This, he said, includes the production of building materials and food supply.

Abang Johari said that during the movement control order (MCO), many Sarawakian ventured into online businesses and conducted online transactions, including online education.

“This means the people are ready for the digital economy,” he said. 

On the IAC which costs RM140 million, he said it would house state government departments and agencies under one building equipped with sophisticated technology that can be used to provide better services to the people in Sarikei.

“This is in line with our plans to build smart cities and part of what we call Sarikei Extension and Urban Development,” said Abang Johari.

Earlier, the chief minister chaired a Sarawak Coordination Committee Meeting at the Sarikei Innovation Centre which discussed development plans and programmes being implemented in Sarikei.

He said projects totalling RM772 million which involved road and bridge constructions, water and electricity supply have been running smoothly even though they had been slightly delayed due to the MCO.

Those projects would now be continued under the new normal’s standard operating procedures (SOPs) as part of efforts to contain Covid-19.

“We will be using new SOPs especially in managing manpower from outside Sarawak so that we can keep the pandemic under control,” he added. — Bernama