Miri, May 29: Miri City is now embarking on the second phase of the Smart City Initiatives which will include the Miri City Command Centre, expansion of Safe Park and Safe City Initiatives and further digitisation of Miri City Council processes and documentation.
Unveiling this, Miri City Council (MCC) mayor Adam Yii said Miri City is fortunate that it was selected as the pioneer city for the Smart City Initiatives by Sarawak government on Jan 30, 2020 and a total of 10 smart applications have been successfully implemented under Phase 1 of the Miri Smart City Initiatives so far.
He said Miri City presently has a population of about 350,000, and a land size of about 5,200 sq km.
“To put the land size in perspective, Miri City is about 7 times the size of Singapore since the land size of Singapore is about 734.3 sq km,” said Yii at the Kenyalang Smart City Summit organised by Imasa Dinasti Sdn Bhd, the developer of Kenyalang Smart City (KSC) Development.
The event attracted over 50 local and international investors from the Middle East and Asia, including the Republic of China, Australia, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia with the purpose to learn more about Kenyalang Smart City Development and associated investment opportunities.
“Miri City is in dire need of a proper convention centre in order to host bigger events. Therefore, the convention centre included in the Kenyalang Smart City Development Project is much welcomed,” said Yii.
For the foreign guests, Yii who is also Pujut assemblyman, gave a short historical account of Miri City.
Miri City came to existence basically when oil was found, developed and produced in 1910 by Shell with the first well drilled on top of the Canada Hill.
The hill was named Canada Hill by the local people, because the first drillers working there were Canadians. Due to its historical significance, the Grand Old Lady and a petroleum museum were erected on the site.
Miri from then on developed from a small fishing village to what it is now, and has been commonly known as the “oil town”.
“Interestingly, Shell as an oil company also has its origin in Miri. Shell was a trading company before it became an oil company,” said Yii.
During WWII, the first point of landing by the Imperial Japanese Army on the island of Borneo was also in Miri where the objective was to take over the oilfields of Miri.
“And due to the presence of a sizable community of expatriates and their families working and living in Miri since the discovery of oil, Miri has a much more cosmopolitan character as compared to other places in Sarawak,” said Yii.
Also present were Deputy Premier Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian, Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts (MTCP) Minister Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, Transport Minister Dato Sri Lee Kim Shin, Deputy MTCP Minister Datuk Sebastian Ting and other dignitaries. – DayakDaily
