Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing
KUCHING: Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin has shown a typical ignorance and misunderstanding of Sarawak’s state of affairs when she criticised the state government of not handling tuai rumah’s allowances ‘professionally’, said Bintulu MP Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing.
Tiong, who is Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) president, said Zuraida needed to educate herself on the selection process of longhouse chieftains, and related customs and practices.
“Instead of wasting her time to politicise an integral matter unique to Sarawak, the Minister of Local Government and Housing should spend her energy better by addressing the worsening shortage of affordable housing in the country,” he said in a press statement yesterday.
Tiong pointed out that issues relating to longhouse land, rural affairs and Iban community affairs fall under the jurisdiction of the state Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development Ministry of which Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah is the Minister and that Zuraida only exposed her own ignorance by questioning the professionalism of the state government.
“Zuraida wants Sarawak to abide by federal government policies but they are not geared towards the special circumstances as practised in Sarawak.
“Longhouse chief or village headmen are not appointed by the federal government but are chosen by their respective residents. They are then submitted for approval to the state government. This is no place for the PH government to practise their politicking to gain political mileage,” Tiong insisted.
On the matter of land for affordable housing in Sarawak, Tiong believed that Zuraida should consult the state government for its development plans for the future of the relevant land.
“The minister’s statements seem to accuse the state of not gazetting the necessary land or complying with the policies of the federal government.
“However, it is possible that her office does not understand nor care to align its policies with the codes and long term plans of the Sarawak state government,” he said.
Tiong also noted that most of the complaints by her office were not reasonable in terms of the suitably of the lands submitted for gazettement.
In pointing out that there are many factors that make finding suitable land for affordable housing gazette difficult, Tiong said much of what the federal government are dictating usually turns out to be private land or located within highly developed areas.
“If the state can only propose areas within urban or developed zones, how would it be possible to allocate suitable land for affordable housing if the federal ministry cannot compromise.
“It is not unreasonable to ascertain that Zuraida’s method of rejecting the lands put forward by the state government is mostly geared towards political mileage and in anticipation of the upcoming state elections,” he said.