Army to build road to resettlement schemes

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Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing

Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing

KANOWIT: The wish of longhouse residents at three former Rascom major resettlement schemes here to have a road built to their original dwelling in Ulu Ngemah will come true soon.

Land Development Minister Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing said this was because the army had agreed to build the road under ‘Projek Jiwa Murni’ (PJM).

He said the construction of the 40km road from Nanga Ngungun to Nanga Semujan in Ulu Ngemah would benefit about 50 families from resettlement scheme areas namely Nanga Ngungun, Nanga Jagau and Nanga Sekuau.

“I had conveyed the matter to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi who is also defence minister and the army and they said yes.

“So they sent their officers here today to have a look at the area and to see how to create the accessibility.

“What we need now is not a quality road but connectivity so the people will have access to their land that they left behind 42 years ago,” he told a press conference at Rumah Magai Sawing in Nanga Ngungun here yesterday.

Masing, who is also Parti Rakyat Sarawak president, had earlier officiated at a meet-the-people session held at the 18-door longhouse. He said the road would cost RM500 million if implemented by Public Works Department but would be cheaper if built under PJM.

“So what is left now is to look for the funds for the army to build the road. I will meet the prime minister soon regarding the matter,” he said.

He disclosed that the perimeter survey work on 4,000 hectares of land in Ulu Ngemah had been completed recently. Masing said the dwellers were relocated to the resettlement areas by the government in the 1970s during the communist insurgency.

“They were then promised, among other things, six acres per family to persuade them to relocate. However the promises have not been fulfilled until today. At the new place, they found it hard to make a living since they do not have land to work on.

“So it is payback time for the government to build the road to honour the sacrifice of the dwellers for the security of the nation,” he said.

Present at the function were Eastern Field Commander Lt Gen Datuk Mohd Zaki Mokhtar, First Infantry Commander Major-General Datuk Stephen Mundaw, Army Chief Engineer Major-General Datuk Abdul Nasser Ahmad, Kanowit MP Datuk Aaron Ago Dagang and Ngemah assemblyman Alexander Vincent.