KUCHING: Village chiefs (Ketua Kaum) in the state are wondering why they are still receiving RM800 per month, whereas their counterparts in Peninsular Malaysia have been getting RM900 per month since January this year.
According to a source from the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development, under the 2017 Budget, all the 16,000 community leaders throughout the country should be getting RM900 starting from January this year as it was approved by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who is also Minister of Finance, during his Budget announcement last year.
“This is a peculiar issue which we hope the state administration can address soon as the community leaders in Sarawak have been asking why there is a difference of RM100 between the allowance of village chiefs in West Malaysia and in Sarawak,” the source told The Borneo Post yesterday.
Currently, many village chiefs are complaining that their allowance is below the maximum wage of RM920 per month, and that the RM800 is rather low for them to carry out their duties for the people.
“I have even told my JKKK that every member who attends JKKK meeting is entitled to get RM50. On top of that, our JKKK secretary is also entitled to RM200 per month.
“So we hope that this issue can be rectified soon as my charges are asking me, where is the money now?” said the village chief who preferred to remain anonymous.
When contacted, a community leader, who also preferred to remain anonymous, disclosed that if the allowance of the village chiefs are raised to RM900, it would create resentment among the penghulus who are getting RM1,000 per month.
“If the allowance of the ketua kaum (village chief) is increased to RM900, then the penghulus should be given at least RM300 more as they are looking after bigger areas.
“And the pemancas, who are higher in rank and position than the penghulus, should also be paid higher as they are looking after a whole district. Currently they are getting RM1,200 per month,” he said.
The community leader pointed out that if all the community leaders do get the increment, then the allowance of the temenggongs too must be increased from the current RM1,500.
Meanwhile, when contacted, an official from the state administration said the issue is peculiar in Sarawak as there are four levels of community leaders whereas in West Malaysia there are just two, namely, the village chief and penghulu.
“In Sarawak, all the village chiefs’ (ketua kaum) allowances are paid by the federal government whereas the community leaders; allowances of the penghulu, pemanca and temenggong are borne by the state government. So it’s a very peculiar case in Sarawak,” he stressed.
He added that the issue is best left to the state’s political leaders to address as it is more political in nature than administrative.