Baru Bian
KUCHING: The Village Community Management Council (MPKK) will bring benefits to the people, not confuse or divide them, says Works Minister Baru Bian.
He also reiterated Saratok MP Ali Biju’s point in a previous statement that the federal government would not be appointing another village headman (tuai rumah or ketua kampung) or community chief.
“We are fully aware that the village headmen or community chief is appointed under the ordinance of the state government — we recognise that. We also know about the directive from the state government obstructing these village headmen or community chiefs from attending programmes organised by outsiders unless recognised by the state government.
“Because of this, many information and projects that the federal government wants to carry out in these villages all over Sarawak are being hindered, which is quite unfair for the people. Therefore, we agreed to form a channel that is parallel to what is in Sarawak; not to compete with the state government but to overcome any issues of bringing development to the rural areas,” he said, adding that the MPKK was meant to be positive and beneficial to the people.
He stated this in a press conference after officiating the Jelajah TVET at the CIDB Convention Centre earlier today.
Baru also expressed his hope that the appointment of an MPKK representative would not bring confusion or division to a village.
“It is a simple setup — the representative will be the people representing the federal government, that is all. I don’t want to see any confusion or division in the village. Don’t let this kind of thing confuse us. We only have one ultimate goal and that is to bring benefits to the people as a federal government.
“I think that is fair and that is lawful and something that must be done as the federal government of the day. We also want to bring in that development and information that can benefit the people,” he said.
Baru added that they would find the most suitable mechanism for the implementation of MPKK in Sarawak.
“We want to find the best mechanism as what is being used in West Malaysia is not necessarily good for Sarawak, so we need to know what is best for Sarawak and the respective village.
“I want to say here that the appointment must be fair and democratic and it must bring benefits to the people. It must not conflict or confuse with what is already there,” he stressed.
Rural Development Deputy Minister Sivarasa Rasiah had announced on Sept 16 that the federal government would be revamping the MPKK appointment in five states, namely Kelantan, Terengganu, Sarawak, Perlis and Pahang.
The announcement had raised an uproar from several Gabungan Parti Sarawak leaders including Deputy Chief Ministers Ministers Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas and Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Jemut Masing.