TONGOD: The setting up of Sabah’s largest integrated clinker and cement factory in  Kampung Kawayoi Pinangah here will help uplift the local community’s socio-economy,  said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji Haji Noor. 

“Once operational, the new factory would complement the existing Cement Industries  Sabah (CIS) Sdn Bhd factory. 

“I believe this new factory will not only boost our cement production but we can also be  a cement exporter,” he said, adding this is another initiatives of the government to  stimulate Sabah’s economic growth and attract investors to the state. 

The Chief Minister said he had the inspiration to set up the cement factory in Penangah  in view of the availability of resources needed to produce cement. 

Hajiji said in tandem with the construction of the cement factory, other infrastructures  would also be set up such as roads leading to the site, water treatment plant, electricity  and telecommunications that indirectly benefit people in the rural areas, particularly the  folks in Tongod. 

Speaking at the factory groundbreaking ceremony in Kampung Penangah here today,  the Chief Minister said the project would also provide more than 1,000 job opportunities  to the local community. 

The project is indeed a catalyst for economic growth for the district and Sabah, he said  adding that it also augured well with the government’s determination to end hardcore  poverty in the state. 

He said through determination and focus the State government managed to reduce the  hardcore poverty rate by 40 per cent. 

Meanwhile, at the same ceremony, the Chief Minister also presented 83 land grants,  with a total acreage of 461.1 (186.06 hectares) to the recipients from Kampung Kuamut  (27), Kampung Penangah (21), Kampung Entilibon (25) and Kampung Mananam (10). 

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