LAWAS: Some projects under the Tenth Malaysia Plan (10MP) in Sarawak might even start earlier in a concerted drive on the national key results areas (NKRAs) by both the state and federal government.Second Minister of Planning and Resource Management Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan said some of the projects could take off as early as the first half of this year and next year although the 10MP starts later.
Budgeting, he said, is the key to getting projects implemented earlier than scheduled as the administration guns for a fast and effective delivery system in line with the 1Malaysia concept.
Tengah said Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud instructed him two months ago to update the list of projects under the NKRAs for Sarawak where rural development is a top priority.
“The updated list with the relevant data is already at Putrajaya,” he said in an interview after he officiated at the closing ceremony of Maksak-meets-the-people in the community hall of Kampung Awat Awat over the weekend.
The administration’s listing of rural development projects under the NKRAs was in response to the infrastructural needs of Sabah and Sarawak.
“This does not mean that urban needs would be sidelined, but the focus is rural development for Sarawak,” said Tengah who is also Minister of Public Utilities.
Sarawak’s list of proposed project in Sarawak covered rural roads, village roads, water and electricity supplies, schools, socio-economic projects and programmes and others.
The rural needs of Limbang and Lawas are also in the long state development list.
“Limbang needs vocational schools (as it costly to travel to Miri), a teachers training institute, and new airport,” he said. The state government places top priority on getting feedback from stakeholders and target groups in drawing up programmes to ensure the smooth implementation of projects.
“It is important for planners and policy makers to have inputs from the ground, to know the peculiarities of the respective locations to ensure that the intended plan is spotted on in meeting the needs of the people,” said Tengah who, together with Lawas Member of Parliament Datuk Henry Sum Agong, also took a boat ride to Kampung Awat Awat, the main producer of ‘ikan tahai’ (smoked fish), dried shrimps, and other sea produce in Lawas.