Sematan

Sematan Sub-District Office

Beautiful beaches and vast countryside set against the backdrop of the picturesque Gunung Gading is perhaps one of the best features of this quiet and sleepy part of the Kuching division. A sub-district of Lundu, Sematan has a total area of 150 km sq. and is located about 127 km or one and half hour drive from the city centre.

This beautiful coastal sub- district has a total population of over 6,000 people comprising the Selako Bidayuh, Chinese and Malays. The Bidayuh makes up more than half of the population followed closely by the Malays. The Chinese community is a minority group.

A first visit gives one an impression of a laid-back economy but probably the economic potentials of this town just await to be fully discovered

Overlooking the beach, the Sematan town is quiet with only a few rows of shophouses, a small market , government buildings and some attractive kampung houses. Although there are some attractive beaches in the area, there are few good accommodation facilities to cater to tourists.

The administrative head of the Sematan sub-district office is SAO Ismawie bin Salleh. At the time of RAKAN Sarawak’s visit, the staff had just moved into their new office located just a few minutes drive from the town itself.

At Sematan Silk Farm, you can see about 700,000 silkworms at a time. These silkworms are being fed each day with about 6 tons of mulberry leaves

Besides the town, this sub-district is home to 2 Bidayuh longhouses and 23 Bidayuh, Malay and Chinese villages put together. 90% of its population have access to water supply while a third are provided with electricity supply. Other infrastructural facilities such as roads, telecommunications, public utilities are well in place in some areas. Sematan has 9 primary and secondary schools providing education to nearly two thousand students. There is one clinic, a public library and one village library, a satellite station, a police station and several other government agencies to cater to the develop-ment of this area.

One of the interesting places to visit is the Jellyfish Factory (Kilang Obor-Obor) where you can see and touch thousands of jelly fish scattered in all corners of the wooden factory“ A day’s catch can be as many as 3,000 jelly fish” says En Hussin Hj Basri, the supervisor of the factory

The economic activities in Sematan revolve around farming and fishing. There is a thriving jelly-fish industry that process salted jelly fish for international markets.

This lucrative but seasonal business only takes place from February to May each year.

Sematan is also one of the three entry points for the import of batak from Indonesia. Batak, a local term referring to sawn timber from Indonesia, is a non-tax item. To regularise all bataks entering the State, Harwood Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of the Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation (STIDC) is an authority to monitor and handle the imports of these sawn timber. Upon entering the State, the bataks are kept at the Harwood Depo for a couple of days to facilitate the declaration process. Once declared, these timbers will be stamped with the STIDC logo of approval and released to the buyers. This industry has provided plenty of employment to the local residents.

Sematan is also home to the only silk farm in Malaysia. This 50-acre silk farm, previously known as Empress Silk and a subsidiary of Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) is now managed by the Zuhrah Pelangi Sdn Bhd. This farm rears silkworms and processed silk cocoons for export to other countries.

A visit to Sematan town gives one an impression of a serene and peaceful environment. It is a town where you can breathe fresh air, see lots of greens and enjoy the seaside.