Dr Rundi (seated fifth left) and Tiong (seated third right) pose with heads of state government agencies and departments including members of PSBSG.
BINTULU: Longhouse chiefs and their committee members must continuously upgrade themselves with relevant knowledge and skills in order to be effective in serving their communities, Minister of Utilities Dato Sri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom advised.
He said this is the basic requirement they should have as members of village security and development committees (JKKK) of their respective longhouses.
The Kemena assemblyman also said as they are paid monthly allowance, the longhouse chief and secretary must conduct a JKKK meeting at least six times a year.
“During the meeting, the secretary must know how to do the minutes of meeting, come up with proposals, issues, projects and most importantly have a complete profile of their respective longhouses,” he said during a dialogue with the Penduduk Sungai Binyo, Sungai Selezu and Sungai Genaan Association (PSBSG) at a hotel here yesterday.
A committee chaired by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas and State Secretary Datuk Amar Jaul Samion will have a meeting on Feb 20 to discuss several issues, among which is to look into the status of longhouses with less than 20 doors, Dr Rundi, who is a member of the committee, said.
Meanwhile, during the dialogue, which was attended by Bintulu MP Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing and heads of state government agencies, various development issues at Sg Binyo, Sg Selezu and Sg Genaan were highlighted.
Dr Rundi was delighted with the dialogue because it enabled him to explain the issues directly to the grassroots leaders.
He urged the people to be always united in the fight for Sarawak’s rights.
He stressed that Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg and cabinet ministers are working hard to make sure Sarawak become a developed state by 2030, by introducing and implementing various development projects particularly on developing basic infrastructure in rural areas.
“China developed very fast because of infrastructure, Abg Jo (Chief Minister) is looking into building bridges, roads, water supply and electricity costing billions of
ringgit until the opposition claimed that the state government would go bankrupt,” he said, adding that the state however remained financially strong under the leadership of Abang Johari.
He thus advised the people not to listen to the negative propaganda spread by the opposition.
“Our focus is the wellbeing and welfare of the people through development. Let the politicians talk about politics. Politics will bring you nowhere if you don’t really understand what it’s all about,” he said.
He added politics is all about policy, and policy is created by human beings, to make sure they remain in power.
“People from outside talk about many things, if they get it, they stay, if they don’t, they leave us.
“These people come here to take advantage, the moment they don’t get it, they leave us, who else will develop Sarawak if not Sarawakians themselves?” said Dr Rundi.