LiveWIRE Brunei, a registered company sponsored by BSP has started the ‘U n I’ Tropika project is a 10-acres freshwater fish and prawn farm set up in Temburong district. The company focuses on community outreach initiative. It is told that the aquaculture farm will be managed by a cooperative-body consisted of 327 locals called Koperasi Bersatu Ternakan Udang dan Ikan Tropika Bhd.
LiveWIRE Brunei has set up a cooperative body to encourage locals to participate in Temburong’s first cooperative to run a commercial fish and prawn farms. The farm is expected to produce a minimum of 4.5 tonnes of freshwater fish and prawns. BSP has conducted research and analysis identifying fish and prawn farming as potential areas to implement their initiative. With the cooperation from the Fishery Department, a feasibility study revealed an encouraging result. The next phase was to create a cooperative body for locals to be involved in the project.
Brunei Shell Petroleum also donated $350, 000 to help set up the company. BSP informed that the aquaculture project is part of its continuity in lending support to the government’s effort in sustainable community development. It is said that the cooperative members are using advance aquaculture technologies from Thailand and Malaysia to acquire trainings and tools to run the farm themselves.
Haji Zainal Abiding Haji Mohd Ali, the Deputy Managing Director of BSP said LiveWIRE was introduced in 2001 as an effort to strengthen and encourage the development of SME in the local business community in the country, especially among the youth. He added that when LiveWIRE conducted a training workshop n Temburong, they found out that there were 400-500 fish farms in various sizes mostly in Bukit Selangan. It was learnt that these farms were unsuitable for commercial purposes as most farmers are doing it as a hobby.
