Abang Johari (third right) speaks at the press conference.
MIRI (April 25): The Sarawak government plans to develop a coastal town between Miri and Niah National Park under the newly launched Beraya Action Plan, with key public infrastructure projects set to pave the way for long-term tourism and economic growth in northern Sarawak.
Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg said the state would first focus on building essential facilities, including an international school and a convention centre, before attracting private investors and developers to expand the township.
He said the location had been identified as Sarawak’s next strategic growth area, aimed at supporting the tourism spillover from Niah National Park while preserving the integrity of the Unesco World Heritage site.
Abang Johari stressed that large-scale development could not take place within the protected Niah heritage zone due to Unesco conservation requirements, making Beraya the natural choice for expansion.
Under the Beraya Action Plan, he said the government would establish “anchor” projects to create a strong foundation for sustainable township development and encourage private sector participation.
“A school and convention centre will be built by the government, and it will act as a pull factor to draw investors and private developers to come in to develop the rest like commercial centres.
“Since Beraya is near the sea, tourists can drop by to visit the place after they visited Niah National Park. The whole plan is to let the town develop organically but in a structured way,” he told a press conference here.
On internet connectivity, Abang Johari acknowledged that although telecommunication towers had been installed in the area, the coverage was still insufficient.
As a long-term solution, he said the government plans to deploy nano-satellites, or CubeSats, to improve internet access in underserved areas.
Earlier, during the launch of the Sarawakku Sayang Miri edition programme, Abang Johari said Miri had the potential to emulate Shanghai’s development model, particularly in tourism and port infrastructure.
While noting that Miri would not match Shanghai in scale due to its much smaller population, he said the city could still aspire to become a smaller version of the Chinese metropolis.
“Perhaps, it is more appropriate to say Miri to become the mini version of Shanghai, if I may say so,” he said.
Also present at the press conference were State Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah; State Transport Minister Dato Sri Lee Kim Shin; Minister of Women, Family and Community Development of Malaysia Dato Sri Nancy Shukri; Deputy Minister in the Sarawak Premier’s Department (Labour, Immigration and Project Monitoring) Datuk Gerawat Gala; and State Deputy Minister of Public Health, Housing and Local Government Datuk Dr Penguang Manggil.
