SERIAN: Barisan Nasional’s Kedup candidate Martin Ben has vowed to bring to an end water woes in the area if elected.
Although most villages in this Bidayuh-dominant area enjoy electricity and good roads, he said they still lack treated water supply for their daily household usage.
“The RES (rural electrification scheme) now covers more than 80 per cent of the area. There are good roads to the villages, except for a few. Clean treated water is now the priority, and we can solve this by applying new technology,” he said when interviewed recently.
On the ‘new technology’, he said it can be the alternative to building big water treatment plants.
At the moment, the only major water treatment plant at Slabi near here cannot accommodate the population in Serian district.
This has forced the people in the villages to rely on the gravity feed system or streams and rivers for their daily water.
According to Martin again, the other improvement he would like to bring to Kedup is to diversify and increase agricultural activities to increase the revenue of the people.
For this, he said he would bring relevant agriculture agencies to teach the people ways to improve their livelihood.
On another matter, Martin, who is Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Kedup deputy chairman, rubbished talks that his ‘ceramah’ (campaigning activities) had not been well attended.
He said it was not accurate to compare a ceramah in the villages to the ones in urban areas.
“In our style of campaigning, we approach the people in small groups because we believe in personal touch,” he said.
Martin is locked in a four-cornered fight with Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR)’s Lainus Andrew Luak, Sarawak National Party (SNAP)’s Sylvester Belayong and independent Amin Banti.
On how he rates his opponents, Martin said: “I never underestimate anybody, and I believe the people are matured and intelligent to know who to vote for.”