MELAKA: The state is looking at getting a new tourist landmark in the form of a Dutch windmill, courtesy of the Netherlands.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron said the state was willing to provide a substantial size of land for the construction of a real-size windmill as an attraction.
"The one we have in Melaka (located at the Dutch Square) is too small in scale, not even one-tenth of an actual size windmill.
"We want an actual sized windmill which is about four or five-storey building high where children can go in and upstairs to the point of the blades to enjoy the view of the open sea and paddy fields," he told a press conference after receiving a courtesy visit from Ambassador of Netherlands to Malaysia Karin Mossenlechner at his office in Seri Negeri here, today.
Present was Netherlands deputy head of mission Christoph Prommersberger.
Idris said it was important to have the windmill for local children here to learn how the Dutch use the windmill to generate power.
"Educating the importance of windmill among children will be a good practice on how it collects water and generates electricity, which are essential for life," he said.
Meanwhile, Mossenlechner was open to Idris request for a life-sized Dutch windmill here.
"The chief minister (Idris) surprised me with his request and it's wonderful to hear his interest in the Dutch windmill.
"We are not sure whether we are still building traditional windmills and whether we have the skills to build them, because nowadays we are mostly building modern, innovative and energy-providing windmills which are important for a cleaner future.
"I cannot promise that there will be an old-fashioned, large scale windmill, but we of course will look into this. We will see what are the possibilities to work in the field of renewable energy to combine our efforts to work towards a cleaner future for our people as it is also good for our economies if we invest in these technologies," said Mossenlechner.
The meeting also discussed, among others include the sharing of technologies in pig farming and promoting cycling.
The state government is looking at constructing a bicycle lane known as "Dutch Route" along Dutch buildings in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation World Heritage Site core zone to promote a greener environment.
"I am very glad that we could talk about the way we could promote heritage to attract more tourists to this region today. There are many Dutch tourists here who treasure Melaka such as the Stadthuys and Jonker Street, and there are so much beauty in the city.
"We hope together with Melaka, we can also promote bicycle tours along the beautiful historical sites to tourist in the city," said Mossenlechner.
Idris also called on his Dutch counterpart in the sharing of technologies and expertise on pig farming here.
He said this was crucial as although the state has a small pig rearing, industry residents and businesses near the pig farms suffer serious pollution issues.
"We have 60,000 pigs in Melaka with 40,000 pigs in Masjid Tanah, but Netherlands has 60million pigs. The Dutch are able to manage this efficiently, with their cutting edge and state-of-the-art pig farming techniques. Pig farmers here could learn from them," he said.