SEMPORNA: The Sabah Seaweed
Cluster project launched in Semporna yesterday, could potentially launch
the national seaweed industry into a major valuable sector by 2020,
said Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Seri Noh Omar.
He said, based on the plan spelt out in a National Key Economic Area (NKEA) project, the seaweed industry in Sabah, especially Semporna, was now recognised as the national seaweed producing district.
“We want to make seaweed growing a high impact programme, away from
the traditional approach of merely as a subsistence crop. Today, we are
planning the value chain, not only on method and technology of producing
seaweed but also other related activities and products.
“Seaweed is processed to make beauty or cosmetic products, and so on. We plan not only to assist the fishermen but we also need seaweed factories and a national seaweed research institute,” he told reporters after launching the Mini MAHA programme and the Sabah Seaweed Cluster project here yesterday.
Also present were Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri
Mohd Shafie Apdal, who is also Semporna member of parliament, and Sabah
Assistant Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Datuk Musbah Jamli,
who represented Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Yahya Hussin.According to Noh, Sabah Seaweed Cluster project’s seaweed output was expected to increase to 900,000 tonnes a year, and the export value of dried seaweed in the form of carrageenan could surpass RM1.4 billion.
He said, based on the plan, the government was allocating RM46 million to Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) to implement a Mini Seaweed Estate project while another RM8.3 million more would be channeled to about 300 participants under the cluster programme of the agriculture department.
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