INCUMBENT:
Datuk Hajjah Nora Abdul Rahman (BN-PBB)
Last 05 May, 2013 Election Result:
1. Nora Abdul Rahman (BN-PBB): 12,535 votes
2. Jurina Mut (PR-PAS): 1,571 votes
Majority: 10,964 votes
THE parliamentary constituency of Tanjung Manis comprises the State seats of Belawai and Semop which are represented by Datu Len Talif Saleh (BN-PBB) and Abdullah Saidol (BN-PBB) respectively. After being designated a global Halal Hub for fishing products under the SCORE project a few years ago, big development projects are taking place in Tanjung Manis – a small coastal town in Sarikei Division. New roads are being built, a giant fishing complex complete with a fishing institute has taken shape, a new wharf is up and running and a new airstrip is available for MASwings to fly direct to and fro Kuching thrice a week.
The incumbent, Datuk Hajjah Norah Abdul Rahman (born Oct 4, 1959) represents Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) in the governing Barisan Nasional coalition. Norah is the daughter of former Sarawak Chief Minister and Governor Tun Abdul Rahman Ya’kub. Before entering politics, she was a businesswoman. She was elected to Parliament unopposed in the 2008 election, replacing Wahab Dolah as the PBB’s nominee for the Tanjung Manis seat. She was re-elected in 2013, winning almost 90 per cent of the votes cast to defeat Pan- Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) candidate Jurina Mut.
Tanjung Manis is on its way to becoming a major industrial port city and a key element in Malaysia’s global Halal Hub strategy. The deep water port will eventually be able to handle 100,000 40-foot containers and six million tones of general cargo a year. The Tanjung Manis Halal Food Park offers investors many competitive advantages, including access to a large land bank and an extensive modern infrastructure.
It provides unique opportunities for investors keen to capitalise on the fast-growing global demand for halal products. Spanning an area of some 77,000 hectares, the Halal food park provides an ideal location for businesses involved in upstream and downstream production and export. With an excellent transport and communications infrastructure, it also offers investors attractive tax breaks and other federal and state-funded incentives. Strategically located at the mouth of the Rajang River with its natural deep water harbour, Tanjung Manis will be the main port serving this part of the SCORE region.
The port is also a valuable asset for exporters in the timber, palm oil and food processing industries, and also provides an ideal location for businesses based on fishing and marine engineering. The Tanjung Manis Integrated Port is only 30 km from the mouth of the Rajang River. It is a natural deep anchorage port with 11 metres access draft channel and has good connectivity by roads and waterways to central region of Sarawak. Tanjung Manis is under the jurisdiction of Mukah Division but due to its close proximity to Sarikei, the airport also serves the Sarikei Division as well. The recently-completed RM965 million Tanjung Manis Water Supply Project undertaken by State Government has given the area access to well over 100 million litres per day of raw water, brought in via a new pipeline from Sungai Maaw in Sibu.
Two further development phases, running up to 2020, will ensure that the water supply keeps abreast of the growing demand for raw water needed for aquaculture and agricultural projects, and treated water for the food processing industry. Some RM140 million has already been spent on a multiphase project to build new roads, and further investments will be made as economic activity in and around the hub area gathers pace.
Extensive development work has recently been completed, with a reliable telecommunications infrastructure, to support the rapid expansion of industries in the area. The remarkable transformation of Tanjung Manis under the SCORE initiative is a godsend gift to the fishermen on the small peninsula who in the past could not see any future beyond their fishing nets, bearing in mind that the global Halal food is a trillion ringgit forever-green business.
