THE 106-year-old Brooke Dockyard in Kuching, which has been operating since 1912 as a facility to repair the White Rajah’s yachts and boats, will undergo a RM10 million refurbishment to turn it into a heritage and handicraft centre, Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari disclosed today.

He said this after taking part in the World Clean Up Day at Kampung Masjid.

The chief minister said the refurbishment will not change the general character of the dockyard at Lebuh Market, at one end of the nearly 2km-long Kuching waterfront.

He added that retaining the dockyard’s character is in line with plans to turn the repair facility, which ceased operations only a few years ago, into a heritage site.

He said the highlight of refurbishment plans is the placement of a replica of the Royalist, James Brooke’s yacht, in the dry dock as a floating restaurant.

“The boat needs to reflect the boats of the Brooke era,” Abang Johari explained.

The replica yacht, he said, is being built by the Brooke Foundation in the United Kingdom.

The foundation is making the yacht for a Hollywood movie, and it will be donated to Sarawak after shooting is over.

The chief minister said he expects the work on the dockyard to be completed “within the next two to three years”. – September 15, 2018.