Sarawak can scrutinise deepsea fishing licence applications

SIBU: The federal government has given Sarawak the power to scrutinise applications for deep sea fishing licences before it is submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry for approval.
Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said this was the result of continuous discussion on the devolution of power between the federal government and the state government.
Prior to this, he said, all applications were sent directly to the federal ministry for approval.
"But now after discussions, they (federal government) have given the power to the Sarawak Agriculture Ministry to scrutinise every application and then give recommendation. Only after that are the applications forwarded to Kuala Lumpur for approval," he said.
Uggah, who is also Sarawak Modernisation of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development Minister, said this to reporters at an appreciation ceremony at the Sarawak Agriculture Department here last night.
A total 171 department staff statewide received excellent service awards while 83 retirees and would-be retirees received letters of appreciation from the Deputy Chief Minister.
The applications sent directly to Kuala Lumpur without the recommendations of the Sarawak Modernisation of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development Ministry would not be considered.
Uggah also said Sarawak was implementing a new method of giving agriculture subsidies to farmers and livestock breeders in the state which was approved by the cabinet recently.
"The cabinet has decided to adopt a new manual on subsidy implementation which was tabled by the Sarawak Agriculture Department for the planting of rubber, oil palm and others," he said.
The implementation of the manual would be able to boost the agricultural output in Sarawak which involved the participation of 225,000 farming families. — Bernama