Kitingan (third right) presenting a cash payment voucher to a local agropreneur who just sold 120kg of Sabah bananas at the APCC Telupid on Monday.
KOTA KINABALU: Farmers in Sabah’s central Telupid district now have another venue to sell their produce with the opening of an Agricultural Products Collection Centre (APCC) on Monday (Sept 26).
This is the fourth APCC run by the Rural Development Corporation (KPD) and it is at Kampung Wasai, about 8km from Telupid town.
The centre is part of KPD’s long-term plan to build six such APCCs throughout Sabah for a total cost of about RM13mil.
The other three completed APCCs are in Kundasang, Kota Marudu and Beaufort while two more in Keningau and Lahad Datu are nearing completion.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan said the Telupid APCC Telupid ws the best alternative for local farmers to market their products aside from the weekly tamu or traditional weekly market in the district.
He said agricultural activities in Telupid district and surrounding areas under the coordination of the KKPD include marketing programmes for buying and selling fresh oil palm bunches (FFB), oil palm plantations and oil palm seed nursery activities.
"The activity of buying and selling various agricultural products has been carried out for a long time but on a small scale due to a lack of facilities for the activity,” said.
Jeffrey who isThe State Agriculture and Fisheries Minister added the APCC would benefit more farming communities once it was fully operational.
So far, 237 agricultural entrepreneurs have registered with the KPD to sell their products at the centre.
Telupid is well-known for its high quality agricultural products which include Sabah bananas, swiftlets birds nest, pineapples, seasonal local fruits and a variety of vegetables.
Additionally, since the KPD is also an agent for selling cooking oil and rice, the facilities at APCC Telupid are hoped to help the agency by providing larger storage spaces for the items.
