Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas
KUCHING: Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas is determined to help transform the rural areas as memories of him being born in a longhouse in the middle of a jungle and having to go to school barefooted sometimes are still clear in his mind.
“Let us now let that be the experience of the past as we want to see all Malaysians and Sarawakians have access to development. Everyone should benefit as we progress towards 2020,” Uggah told The Borneo Post in an exclusive interview here over the weekend.
He said he aimed to help close the income gap between farmers in the rural areas and urban dwellers.
To do that, he has been tasked to coordinate all related agencies to help rural farmers earn at least RM4,000 per month by 2020.
On his return to state politics, Uggah, who is also Minister of Modernisation of Agriculture and Rural Economy, said even though he was already comfortable serving as a minister in the Federal Cabinet, he was obliged to return to help transform the rural areas and to modernise farming activities.
He revealed that initially he was quite reluctant to come back as he was already comfortable in Putrajaya.
“Honestly, I don’t want to come back as I already have facilities to look after the whole of Malaysia as a minister. But then the party (PBB) wants me to come back.”
He admitted that the responsibilities that come with being a deputy chief minister were heavy.
“But I have the passion to work for the rural areas, and with my new portfolio as the minister of modernisation of agriculture and rural economy, I want to assist our rural people and uplift their livelihood,” said Uggah, who is also PBB senior vice president.
To transform the rural areas, Uggah said rural farmers must be willing to change for the better.
“We have to change their mind-set to be more pro-development. What it means is they must
also contribute to their own success. As an example, the government can give them the fertilisers and the best seedlings, but if they do not want to work, then there is nothing much that we can do.
“So, we hoped with improvement in education, there will be greater awareness and willingness among them to improve their livelihood.”
And Uggah, 61, is aptly given the task because besides coming from a rural area, he also has a degree in economics from University of Malaya.
“We (Ministers) have KPI (Key Preforming Index) that we have to report every six months. So we will organise a lab after Gawai Dayak celebration on how our ministry will be moving to achieve greater modernisation, mechanisation and automation as the future of our agriculture sector lie in these sectors.”
Uggah, who is fondly known as the `smiling minister’ also hoped that his officers would be pro-active in assisting him and his three assistant ministers: Datuk Francis Harden (Assistant Minister of Rural Economy and Plantation), Datuk Julaihi Narawi (Assistant Minister of Rural Economy (Coastal Areas and Fisheries) and Malcolm Mussen Lamoh (Assistant Minister of Agriculture) to ensure they could achieve their targets in the next five years.
“I don’t think we should strike fear among our officers. Instead, we must instil in them the need to serve with integrity.”
However, he cautioned that the objective could be hindered with the lack of resources.
“But the chief minister has given the assurance that his next focus is on rural transformation because it is there that the problems still lies. And this has been part of our manifesto in the last state election, and we are eager to see it through.”