JASIN: The D’Bendang Carnival has the potential to be an annual event and serve as a platform to promote agro-tourism in Sungai Rambai, especially as part of the Visit Melaka Year 2024 (TMM2024) campaign.
Sungai Rambai assemblyman Siti Faizah Abdul Azis said that Sungai Rambai’s location and its beautiful attractions have the potential to attract tourists to experience the ambience of a rural village, complete with rice fields, something commonly found in Kedah, Perlis, or Kuala Selangor.
“It is even more interesting as we have obtained cooperation with the Melaka Tourism Promotion Division (BPP) to jointly promote and establish the D’Bendang Carnival as an annual event,“ she said during the carnival at Kem Benteng Negara, Parit Penghulu, Sungai Rambai.
Over 50 agencies and ministries, as well as 60 entrepreneurs and agro-businesses came together to ensure the success of the first-ever edition of the carnival, which is expected to attract nearly 8,000 visitors over a period of three days, she said.
There are various programmes and activities planned, including straw sculpture exhibitions, the Queen of the Paddy Fields competition, the Raja Puyu fishing competition, arm wrestling, health screenings and exhibitions by agencies such as Perkeso, the Prisons Department, the Health Ministry, as well as the Rahmah Sales programme.
She shared that 65 Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Lendu Fine Arts Faculty students had spent six days working alongside farmers here to build more than 10 straw sculptures from nearly 50 tonnes of straw, depicting symbolic agriculture-related replicas such as buffaloes, scarecrows, tunnels, and turtles.
Also, a collaboration with the Universiti Putra Malaysia’s (UPM) Environmental Studies Faculty since last year on producing marine livestock fry could potentially turn Sungai Rambai into the country’s largest distributor and producer of such products, Siti Faizah added.
“We have also applied for grants, and Alhamdulillah, we have obtained them for the first phase. Tomorrow, we will hand over crablet samples worth RM200,000.
“In addition to aiming to become the largest producer of marine livestock fry, we also want young people from the B40 group to be involved in this project to provide them with opportunities to acquire agriculture-related skills through Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET),“ she added. - Bernama
