Bamboo surau to be new tourism draw in Terengganu

The surau, built with bamboo will also be a research centre, says plantations minister Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali.

KUALA TERENGGANU: A surau built with bamboo at Dataran Tembesu is expected to become a new tourism attraction for Terengganu, Kuala Nerus MP Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali said today.

He said the bamboo-based surau, built at a cost of RM400,000 would also become the country’s first bamboo research centre.

“The surau occupies 3,000 square metres. It will become a research centre for everyone in the bamboo field. The construction process will be documented and used as a manual and research material. The surau will become a model for bamboo-based construction,” said Khairuddin.

“Currently land levelling for the site is being carried out and the construction is expected to take nine months,” he told reporters at a seminar on Bamboo Applications In the Construction Industry here today.

Khairuddin, who is minister for plantation industries and commodities, said the ministry would develop a Bamboo Forest Plantation Model project next year on a 15-hectare piece of land at the Terengganu Timber Industry Training Centre in Kuala Berang, with an allocation of RM5 million.

He said it would serve as a guideline for industry players to get into the plantation field and consequently contribute to the production of raw materials for bamboo-based products.

The ministry is actively encouraging the public to plant bamboo commercially as most of the country’s bamboo supply comes from the jungle which causes inconsistency, Khairuddin said.

“Malaysia exported RM9.6 billion worth of wood-based products until the second quarter of this year. The US is the biggest importer of the country’s wood products, worth RM2.87 billion or 30% of the overall export. However, out of the total, bamboo and bamboo-based products export is only at RM3 million.

“As such we (the ministry) want bamboo to be planted on a big scale or at plantation level. We provide allocations via easy shariah-based loans. For a single hectare we provide RM10,000 that only needs to be repaid in the seventh year, despite yields being enjoyed from the fourth year onwards,” he said. - FMT