MIRI: Miri City particularly the Senadin constituency has grown by leaps and bounds and is gearing itself well for more development including in the tourism industry which is expected to be the niche industry in 2017.

Assistant Minister for Land and Air Transportation and Safety Datuk Lee Kim Shin said in terms of visitors coming to Miri through Sungai Tujuh Border Post alone the number this year had increased by one million visitors from last year.

“In 2015 up to 19 December it was 2.2 million and during the same period this year it reached 3.2 million, that is an increase by one million visitors. So we are expecting more visitors next year,” said Lee when asked by the Borneo Post during a Christmas Open House of the Borneo Evangelical Mission (BEM) Senadin founder and chairman Andrew Mering Jau Bara and his wife Nelly Unyang, who is also Employees Provident Fund (EPF) Miri branch manager.

Accompanying Lee during the visit were Piasau assemblyman Datuk Sebastian Ting and Miri City mayor Adam Yii.

Also present were the Sarawak and Brunei Darussalam Anglican Bishop, Right Reverend Bishop Solomon Cheong and chairman of Association of Churches in Sarawak Rev Datuk Dr Justin Wan.

Lee added that to attract more tourists coming through Brunei to Miri and Sarawak in general, the state tourism ministry and the industry’s stake holders will collaborate with their Brunei counterparts. A meeting to that effect will be held next month.

On air connectivity, Lee said the focus was on charted flights adding that confirmed chartered flights from Taipei and Taiwan would be arriving in Kuching next year. Similar arrangements had been made with China to enable more tourists to come to Sarawak including Miri.

“Thus with greater focus on tourism industry in 2017, we call for cooperation of all stake holders to help make the service industry a success,” he said, adding that the private sector needed to aggressively promote attractive tour packages to meet the different expectations of tourists from different countries.

Meanwhile, he said Miri City Council and the general public should consolidate efforts including upgrading the standard of hygiene and cleanliness as well as beautification programmes to make the city a preferred tourism destination and conducive living environment.

On development in Senadin, Lee said since he was first elected as the state assemblyman in 1996, there has been tremendous progress.

“We have achieved a tremendous progress, a lot of areas in Desa Senadin and Permyjaya were covered by forest and peat swamp, but today it has become satellite towns … growing tremendously in term of population growth and infrastructure,” he said.

He noted Permyjaya and Desa Senadin combined had a university, two institutes and one college and when fully developed will have a total population of 140,000 people.

Currently, Senadin constituency has dual carriage way built right up to the Asean bridge, while part of the Pan-Borneo Highway project has started from Permyjaya linking up to Miri Airport with the construction of two flyovers.