BELURU: The 100-door Rumah Aji in Sungai Selepin, Bakong sub-district, can look forward to a 7km tar-sealed road when the Miri-Beluru road project takes off next year.
GOOD REASON TO REJOICE: Assistant Minister of Public Utilities (Water Supplies) Sylvester Entri Muran officiated at a function at SK Sungai Selepin in Beluru yesterday and told the villagers that the government had given the greenlight to tar-seal a road there. The project would cost millions of ringgit.
The RM13.2 million project has been approved under the National Key Result Area (NKRA) list of projects for Marudi constituency, said its assemblyman cum Assistant Minister of Public Utilities (Water Supplies) Sylvester Entri Anak Muran yesterday.
“The present bumpy and slippery road condition will be a thing of the past as the tar-sealed road to the longhouse has been approved,” he said when officiating at the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) Family Day cum Aerobicthon function at SK Sungai Selepin.
The road upgrading is high on the locals’ wish list, and this was also conveyed to Datuk Shahlan Ismail, Political Secretary to the Prime Minister, during his visit there last year.
Entri said these are part of the infrastructure projects coming their way under the government’s rural development drive.
Also in the pipeline is water supply from the reticulation system to six longhouses in Bukit Peninjau and Sungai Selepin. The project is expected to take off when the Public Works Department put it up for tender.
“This will complete the target for longhouse and settlements in Bakong and Peninjau areas to have water, electricity and road accessibility,” he said, calling on locals to give full support and co-operation to facilitate implementation of these projects.
On education, he said rural students can excel with support and encouragement of parents and teachers.
Entri threw the gauntlet to SK Sungai Selepin to produce straight As students in coming years, adding that he was supportive of their plans to improve infrastructures such as covered walkways and fencing.
The assistant minister, who established an annual education excellence incentive award, said it was meant to encourage students to strive for excellence as only those who scored straight As in the UPSR, PMR, SPM or STPM are eligible.
“This incentive awards are open not only to those in Marudi constituency but Baram district which included schools from as far as Bario, where those eligible would get RM50 for each subject with distinction,” he said.
Earlier, headmaster James Nibong and PTA chairman Pangang Ambau called for assistance from Entri to help ring up the school compound with proper fencing and construction of a covered walkway.
In response, Entri approved a RM5,000 MRP grant to the PTA, and told them to submit the project proposal and costing for him to act on.