Uggah (fourth right) and guests symbolically pound rice to officiate at the Miri Divisional Gawai Dayak Dinner 2019.
MIRI: Some RM1.5 billion worth of road and basic infrastructure projects under the Highland Development Agency (HDA) are currently waiting to be approved by the State Planning Authority.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah said there are 43 projects in total – 21 for roads worth RM1.264 billion and 22 for electricity and water supply worth RM235.6 million – for the Baram parliamentary area, which includes Telang Usan and Mulu.
He said a meeting was held with community leaders from the affected areas earlier this year to discuss about the scope of the projects, to ensure that they are according to the needs of the people at grassroots level.
“This means that the roads to be built have been surveyed and the routes as well as the cost are already known. So now we are just waiting for approval from the State Planning Authority.
“Our objective is to make sure that the projects can be implemented within these two years,” he said in his address at the Miri Divisional Gawai Dayak Dinner 2019, here on Saturday.
Also present were State Legislative Assembly Deputy Speaker Dato Gerawat Gala, Assistant Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Datuk Lee Kim Shin, Telang Usan assemblyman Dennis Ngau, Piasau assemblyman Datuk Sebastian Ting, Sibuti MP Lukanisman Awang Sauni, Batu Danau assemblyman Paulus Palu Gumbang, Senator Dr Nuing Jeluing and event organising chairlady Datin Catherine Awing.
Uggah assured that the Sarawak government is determined that no area or region in the state shall be left behind in terms of development by the year 2030.
“Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg wants to be inclusive. He wants to make sure that by 2030, there is no more issue of unbalanced development and that the income gap between the urban and rural areas is narrowed,” he said.
During the dinner, Uggah also pledged an allocation of RM50,000 for Miri Divisional Gawai Dayak committee, along with pledges from Gerawat (RM15,000), Lee (RM15,000), Dennis (RM10,000), Ting (RM10,000), Lukanisman (RM10,000), Paulus (RM3,000) and Dr Nuing (RM5,000).