Ministry to improve rural communities

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Rina (seated, centre) and other guests including Willie (on her right) pose for a group photo.

KUCHING: The Rural Development Ministry will make it a point to go to the ground to see what it can do in terms of improving the lives of rural communities, its minister Rina Harun said.

“As Minister of Rural Development, it is my responsibility to ‘turun padang’ (go to the ground) to see for myself the life and struggles of the people, and identify the key needs which can potentially uplift the socio- economic aspects of rural people,” she said during a working visit to Kampung Senah Rayang, Padawan near here, yesterday.

On the visit, she said she understood that Felcra Berhad has an oil palm plantation at Kampung Senah Rayang of about 445 hectares in size, and she has called on Felcra to carry out its responsibility to manage the plantation in a manner which can benefit the villagers.

Rina signs a plaque to symbolically launch the pepper processing premises. On her right is Willie.

She added the ministry will continue to develop effective strategies and programmes to improve the quality of life, socio-economic, physical, spiritual and emotional aspects of rural communities. Rina also announced her ministry had approved housing assistance projects for single mothers and senior citizens in the village as well as allocating funds to improve the homestay hall at the village.

After the event, Rina  officially opened pepper entrepreneur Salim Namod’s processing premises which received a grant from Felcra Berhad amounting to RM20,000.

She also symbolically released freshwater fish fry in a nearby river.

Also present were Puncak Borneo MP Willie Mongin, Ministry of Rural Development’s deputy secretary-general (Development) Dato Azizan Mohamad Sidin, Special Administrative Officer in the state’s  Ministry of Modernisation of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development Datu Chaiti Bolhassan and Felcra Berhad regional general manager Saifuddin Omar.