KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 9 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Rubber Board (MRB) will use proceeds from the redevelopment of prime land at its Sungai Buloh research facility to further uplift the local rubber industry and enhance its image.
Its director-general Datuk Dr Salmiah Ahmad said that monetisation of the 1,320 hectares (3,300 acres) of land belonging to the then Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia (RRIM) would enable MRB to modernise many of its facilities, including laboratories needed for advanced research and development (R&D).
MRB came into being in 1998 after the merger of RRIM, Malaysian Rubber Research and Development Board and Malaysian Rubber Exchange and Licensing Board.
Under the revamp, MRB will be allocated 243 hectares (600 acres) for R&D activities with the rest of the area to be redeveloped as part of the Greater Kuala Lumpur Strategic Development Project initiative under the 10th Malaysia Plan.
Of the present total land area, rubber plantations take up about 939 hectares (2,320 acres) while the remaining area houses nurseries, experimental laboratories, midstream and downstream pilot plant factories and housing for employees, two schools, a mosque, a Hindu temple, heritage buildings and recreational facilities.
"We must move with the times, we need new equipment and laboratories to conduct further research and help the industry to grow further," Dr Salmiah in an interview with Bernama.
On concerns that that the storehouse of 85 years of invaluable research on natural rubber may be lost if the Sungai Buloh land were to be redeveloped, she said not all of the property would undergo a revamp.
This is because some tracts of land planted with trees that date back to many decades, including two research expeditions to Brazil in 1981 and 1991 funded by the International Rubber Research Development Board, will be left untouched but converted into a living rubber museum.
(It was also partly for the same reason that the then Subang International Airport was not allowed to be extended into Sungai Buloh in view of the storehouse of rubber research, hence giving birth to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang).
Dr Salmiah said from the germ plasms (hereditary material of germ cells) collected from the two expeditions to Brazil, MRB had been able to come up with high-yielding clones from its own research.
"They are very valuable and we have to keep them really within our control," she said, adding that the priceless trees and research could be considered as national treasures or "khazanah negara" as they were the key to the future of Malaysia's rubber industry.
As such, she added, the living rubber museum would enable the trees to be left intact for further research to be carried out.
To safeguard the research undertaken at Sungai Buloh, Dr Salmiah said MRB had also transferred its present R&D activities to four other rubber research stations in Kota Tinggi (Johor), Bukit Kuantan (Pahang), Sungai Sari (Kedah) and Similajau (Sarawak).
Some of these stations were also testing clones derived from the germ plasms on a bigger scale than Sungai Buloh, she disclosed, adding that this meant that the legacy of the Sungai Buloh research would continue to live on at the other four stations.
On other plans for the Sungai Buloh land, Dr Salmiah said MRB had proposed to centralise all its operations, including its headquarters, now located at three different sites in the Klang Valley, at Sungai Buloh so that it would be more cost-effective besides having improved research-related and commercial facilities.
These include having a centre of excellence with better R&D facilities for better research and serving clients better and setting up a Royal Commodity College to produce trained workers for the rubber industry.
"Our (research) backlog is very high because we don't have enough capacity.
The redevelopment will change all that because we need to serve the industry better," she said.
In addition, MRB will also provide facilities for the establishment of business clusters in the area.
"When we come out with new technology we want the industry to have the feel of the technology first. They can come and set up their preliminary offices within these facilities and test out the technology," Dr Salmiah said.
"Once they are more comfortable, they can go out and set up their commercial plants," she said, adding that the business cluster facilities would also be useful for overseas rubber-based companies looking to set up shop in this region.
According to Dr Salmiah, the redevelopment of the Sungai Buloh land is a win-win solution for the government and MRB.
"Redevelopment means that the government will benefit from monetising its property while MRB, which has been depending on the government for funding, will get the necessary but increased funding for its expanded activities to further boost the local rubber industry," she said.
-- BERNAMA
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