KUCHING: People in the rural areas can now expect better treatment from the government, particularly in terms of getting infrastructure development.
This is to reciprocate them for being always loyal to the Barisan Nasional (BN) government especially during elections.
This assurance came from Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem, who acknowledged that despite their loyalty and strong support the rural people had been neglected for decades.
“I want to change that because if we look at past election results the support for BN mostly came from rural people…we lost in all urban seats. So we have to reciprocate the rural population for their solid support because that is the rule of life,” he said.
While it could not be denied that there had been some progress brought to rural areas over the years, he added, there were still a lot more to be done.
“To me the rural areas have been neglected for very long time and something should be done about it. Of course there had been some rural development but still not enough,” he said.
Adenan said it was a pity to note that until today some villagers in rural areas were still without basic amenities such as water and electricity supply and access roads.
He disclosed this when opening the Smallholders and Commodities Entrepreneurs Conference (NSCEC 2015) here yesterday where his deputy Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu and Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas were among those present.
“Now we are talking about internet and ICT (information and communication technology) and what-not but we never think how to use computers if they don’t even have power supply.
“So these are the things that we want to fight for now and it is for this very reason that I urge everyone to give me a chance to continue leading the state because to accomplish what we want will take at least few years,” he said.
He lamented that the rural parts of the state, in particular, were nowhere compared to places in Peninsular Malaysia.
“If you don’t fight for Sarawak nobody will and because of that I need your support, the support from everybody so that we can speak with louder and convincing voice,” he said.
To enable him to bring more development to rural areas, he said the people should support him all along.
“Perhaps we have been given less priority before but our present Prime Minister is very sympathetic to the Borneo states because of the size of both Sabah and Sarawak and I never stopped convincing him (PM) about our size that we are as big as Peninsular Malaysia.
“Our Prime Minister is very concerned about our rural development especially roads that we need very badly because when building roads it is not just to connect one point to another point but to develop between the two points together,” he said.
He asserted that to start with, the state government had allocated RM300 million for minor rural projects (MRP) and the funds should be used to develop the rural areas and not to be deposited in the banks by elected representatives.
“I will request for more allocations from the federal government but of course to convince the federal leaders we must be united and speak with one voice,” he said.
Meanwhile, commenting on the request for higher oil royalty from Petronas, Adenan said negotiations were still ongoing.
“We have not reached an agreement for the oil royalty (to be given to Sarawak) to reach 20 per cent.
“But in the meantime, they have given us assurance that at least RM2.1 billion worth of contracts will be allocated specifically for Sarawak companies,” he pointed out.