 In the 1950s , major economic activities in Bintulu were the timber extraction industry , fishing , and <unk> processing . In the 1960s , Bintulu was still a small fishing village , with a population of 5 @,@ 000 . No roads were constructed in Bintulu until 1969 when the first <unk> road was built to connect Bintulu to Miri . The first bus that serviced the Miri – Bintulu route was owned by Majlis <unk> Rakyat ( MARA ) . The MARA bus line was an initiative by the Malaysian federal government to provide public transportation for the people . The Iban villagers paid the bus driver with " vegetables , chickens , bamboo shoots , and other items " . Before 1960 , Bintulu was connected to Kuching by sea through a ship named " Swee Joo " . After 1960 , the ship " Chin Chin " was added to the route . It took around 36 to 48 hours to reach Bintulu from Kuching , depending on the sea conditions . Due to lack of food supplies from Kuching , the villagers had to make do with limited food , and several villagers resorted to hunting in the jungles to supplement the food supply . 
