Kedah is looking into acquiring a 647.497ha of land in Ladang Bukit Ketapang, Kuala Nerang, for the Rubber City project.
“The project is a national project and therefore the Federal government is giving its full support for the project,” State Industry and Investment, Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumer Affairs Committee chairman Datuk Dr Ku Abdul Rahman Ku Ismail said.
“We plan to start the project this year but the funds however will only be received in March next year, at the earliest,” he said in reply to the oral questions by Kama Noriah Ibrahim (BN-Pedu) at the state assembly here today.
However, Rahman added the amount of funds that will be allocated by the Federal government have not been decided yet and the cost for the land acquisition will be determined by the valuation department.
To a question by Datuk Amiruddin Hamzah (Pas-Anak Bukit) on whether the project will be affected by the current economy, Rahman said that there are a number of companies interested to invest in the project. “Despite the current economy of the world and our country that is degenerating, there are still a number of companies that interested to invest in high amount in the project. “For instance, companies that produce rubber gloves, whose growth are about six or seven % per year, are even planning to expand their business as they are gaining more profit due to the fall in the ringgit. “These rubber glove companies can become an anchor investor that will be able to attract more companies to invest in the project,” said Rahman.