Mukah Division is one of the twelve administrative divisions in

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the M ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. It was established on 1 March 2002 and it has a total area of 6,997.61 square kilometres. Mukah Division contains five administrative districts: Mukah, Dalat,

Daro The Daro District is a district in Mukah Division, Sarawak, Malaysia. The district contains the eponymous town of Daro. The nearest town to Daro is Matu. Daro is administered under the Majlis Daerah Matu-Daro (Matu-Daro District Council), whi ...

Matu The Matu District is a district in Mukah Division, Sarawak, Malaysia. Before Mukah Division was established, Matu was within Sibu Division. There are more than 20 villages in the district, with Melanau Melanau or ''A-Likou'' (meaning River ...

and

Tanjung Manis District Tanjung Manis is a district, in Mukah Division, Sarawak, Malaysia. The capital of the district is the Belawai town. History The Tanjung Manis District was originally named "Belawai sub-district" on 7 April 1973 and was placed under the administ ...

. The total population is 110,543. The population is culturally mixed, with mostly

Melanau Melanau or ''A-Likou'' (meaning River people in Mukah dialect) is an ethnic group indigenous to Sarawak, Malaysia. They are among the earliest settlers of Sarawak. They speak in the Melanau language, which is a part of the North Bornean branc ...

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

Iban IBAN or Iban or Ibán may refer to: Banking * International Bank Account Number Ethnology * Iban culture * Iban language * Iban people Given name Cycling * Iban Iriondo (born 1984) * Iban Mayo (born 1977) * Iban Mayoz (born 1981) Football * ...

, and

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

predominating.

Resident Roll of Honor

Development

As a relatively new division in

, Mukah identifies seven core development sectors. Major rivers in Mukah are Batang Mukah, Batang Oya, Batang Igan and Batang Rajang. The sectors are as follows; *Fishery *Agriculture *Industry *Tourism *Human Resource *Infrastructure and Info-structure *Community Harmonious Lives (''Kesejahteraan Hidup Masyarakat'')

Infrastructure

After a few years, the division has completed a coastal road that connects Kuala Balingian/

Balingian Balingian also known as Kuala Balingian is a town in Sarawak, Malaysia. It lies approximately east-north-east of the state capital Kuching. Etymology Baligian got its name from a river crossing the town. The river was once used by the local r ...

/ Mukah/ Dalat/ Oya/ Igan/

.A RM 48 million, 170 meters double-arch suspension bridge over Batang Mukah was opened to public on 16 September 2005. During the 2014 Balingian by-election, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri

Muhyiddin Yassin Tan Sri Dato' Haji Mahiaddin bin Md Yasin (born 15 May 1947), commonly known as Muhyiddin bin Muhammad Yassin ( ms, محيي الدين بن محمد ياسين, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; ), is a Malaysian politician who serv ...

has announced that a new airport will be built for Mukah. The overall cost of the project is estimated at RM 600 million. The earthworks began on 16 April 2014 at a site about 7 kilometers from the town centre. As of February 2015, 16% of the construction was completed.

Education

There are two higher education institutes in the division;

UiTM The MARA Technological University ( Malay: ''Universiti Teknologi MARA''; Jawi: اونيۏرسيتي تيكنولوڬي مارا; abbr. UiTM) is a public university based primarily in Shah Alam, Selangor. It was established to help rural Mala ...

Mukah campus and Mukah Polytechnic. Also, there is a coal power plant built in Matadeng, some 30 km from the Mukah town. In March 2015, Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud has launched the Laila Taib College (KLT) Mukah Campus. The 35-acre campus is within the Mukah Education Hub and costs RM 336 million. The campus is still under construction.

Fishery

Meanwhile, in Belawai, the fishery sector is being focused. There is Tanjung Manis Deep Sea Fishery Complex to support the sector. Tanjung Manis also connected to

Sibu Sibu (; Foochow Romanized, Hokchew Romanized: ''Sĭ-bŭ'') is a landlocked city in the central region of Sarawak. It is the capital of Sibu District in Sibu Division, Sarawak, Malaysia. The city is located on the island of Borneo and covers ...

via Serdeng/Tanjung Manis/Bruit/Sg.Nai Road and Sibu/Bawang Assan/Serdeng Road. The fishery industry is synonym with Mukah town too. The

s are fish lovers and fish are incorporated in traditional dishes, for example ''umai''. Mukah town even has statues of ''Ikan Merah''(

Red Snapper Red snapper is a common name of several fish species. It may refer to: * Several species from the genus ''Lutjanus'': ** ''Lutjanus campechanus'', Northern red snapper, commonly referred to as red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico and western Atlanti ...

) and ''Udang''(

Prawn Prawn is a common name for small aquatic crustaceans with an exoskeleton and ten legs (which is a member of the order decapoda), some of which can be eaten. The term "prawn"Mortenson, Philip B (2010''This is not a weasel: a close look at nature ...

) that suggests the importance of the industry to the town and the division wholly.

Shopping malls

*Medan Mall *Everwin Supermarket *Glory Supermarket *Mukah Central(Under Construction)

Tourism

Mukah offers a different tourism attraction in Sarawak. Being the only Melanau-majority town, the

culture is the best that Mukah has to offer.

Kaul Festival (''Pesta Kaul'')

There is a grand ''Kaul'' Festival (Pesta Kaul in Malay) held annually at Kala Dana Beach (Pantai Kala Dana in Malay) at Mukah. In 2012, approximately 70,000 visitors attended the festival. A park called Kala Dana Recreation Park or Site of Kaul Festival (Tapak Pesta Kaul) was built there and had recently been renovated and is now more modern. It also has an observation tower. This festival attracts many visitors from Sarawak-wide and sometimes even foreign tourists. The chief minister also attends this festival each year. For 2014, the festival was held on 23–27 April.

Places of interest

Some of the places of interest in Mukah Division are: *Bruit National Park, Daro *Sungai Pasin Wildlife Park, Matu *Kampung Sok Melanau Longhouse, Matu *Sago Farm, Dalat *Kenyana Lake, Mukah *Taman Tanjung Pedada, Kpg. Tanjung, Mukah *Kala Dana Recreation Park, Mukah *Setia Raja Boulevard Recreation Park, Mukah *Blue Horizon Beach, Mukah *Kampung Kuala Hilir Oya, Dalat *Telaga Penawar Kampung Jemoreng, Matu *Belawai Beach, Daro *Lamin Dana (Traditional Melanau Longhouse), Mukah *Pantai Kampung Judan Hilir, Mukah

Agriculture

The main agricultural products are

oil palm ''Elaeis'' () is a genus of palms containing two species, called oil palms. They are used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil. The African oil palm ''Elaeis guineensis'' (the species name ''guineensis'' referring to its co ...

sago Sago () is a starch extracted from the pith, or spongy core tissue, of various tropical palm stems, especially those of ''Metroxylon sagu''. It is a major staple food for the lowland peoples of New Guinea and the Maluku Islands, where it is ...

, paddy,

pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been cultivated for many centuri ...

and

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...

Industry

In 1996, the Mukah Light Industrial Estate was established by the Mukah river, about 3 km from the Mukah town. The planned area covers 61 hectares. The other industrial estate in Mukah Division is the Tanjung Manis Timber Processing Zone developed by Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation (STIDC).

Demography

Ethnic groups

As of 2010,

is the largest ethnic group in Mukah Division with more than half of the population identified themselves as Melanau.