Dr Rizoh, Sanial, Janus.
WITH an estimated RM18 million development brought into Kadamaian for the past two years, incumbent Datuk Ewon Benedick – one of the youngest ministers in the previous state government – is still needed by many.
Often called as ‘Kadamaian’s diamond’, the young politician from Kampung Kiau of Kota Belud was even endorsed by former chief justice Tan Sri Richard Malanjum, who officiated his campaign machinery right after nomination process – was done in an iconic Kadamaian Square, an outdoor hall initiated by Ewon, in Taginambur.
Kampung road upgrades, bridges, a gymnasium, sports court, community tourisM, rural entrepreneurship buildings and various ‘touchpoints’ programmes are among his contributions that will be remembered by the people in Kadamaian.
Local community activist, Dr Rizoh Bosorong admitted Ewon has a good track record in his effort developing Kadamaian, and also did a good job as a state Rural Development Minister.
Dr Rizoh, who was involved in preparing the only Ewon’s manifesto for the 16th state election, Kadamaian Development Master Plan 2020-2035, praises the vice president of United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (Upko) for successfully documenting a masterplan to develop Kadamaian, with full support from the Chief Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal.
“The development masterplan will be a guideline for all ministries, agencies and government departments in channelling development in the rural areaS, especially in Kadamaian constituency.
“The masterplan was implemented by the Institute for Development Studies (IDS) Sabah with collaborations of Kota Belud District Office, Kadamaian Community Development Leader Unit Office and Pejabat Perhubungan Ahli Undangan Negeri of Kadamaian.
“It was done in six months, involving 74 villages in Kadamaian and a total of RM70,000 touchpoints allocation was spent for this,” said Dr Rizoh.
The plan is Ewon’s vision in developing Kadamaian based on two major sectors in economy, namely agriculture and tourism.
“Both sectors must be backed up with better or upgraded basic infrastructure, such as sealed roads, electricity supply, treated water and telecommunication,” he said.
Dr Rizoh, who is also the chairman of Pengerusi Badan Pelancongan Komuniti Sayap, is positive that Ewon needs to be given more time to implement, as he had already proved that he is on the right track.
In Sayap sub-district, Dr Rizoh said among tourism-based development projects in the area are building and upgrading roads to Kampung Terintidon, and also building hut and tourism staircase path in Kampung Sayap.
“Same developments were also channelled to other villages. Cultural hut was built in Kampung Gonok and Kampung Lahanas, Tourism and Cultural Court in Kampung Talungan, tourism road upgrades in Kampung Tegudon, 3V tourism centre in Kampung Nahaba, Kampung Melangkap Tiong and Polumpung, and also building tourism staircase path in Kampung Kiau.
“In developing entrepreneurship, Ewon had built four buildings for entrepreneurship activities within two years, namely Bangunan Keusahawanan (Madu Kelulut) in Kampung Pinolobuh, Bangunan Keusahawanan Desa Kampung Sayap, Bangunan Keusahawanan Desa Kampung Kiau and Bengkel Keusahawanan Desa (Jahitan Pakaian Tradisional) in Kampung Kelawat Pekan.
“Ewon is very caring and always lending his hands, supporting rural entrepreneurs. Apart from entrepreneurship workshops, other development projects related to entrepreneurship were also implemented in the past two years,” concluded Dr Rizoh.
A voter in Kadamaian, Sanial Angkat, said Ewon is a young leader who is far-sighted, educated, humble, people-oriented and always promoting peace among the people.
“To me, his humble character who always shares how he struggled coming from a hardcore poor family to get education has never failed to touch the heart of old and young people of Kadamaian.
“Despite his busy schedule as a full minister, Ewon is always available for his people, if possible once a week. He becomes our reference for any future planning that is involving public interest,” he said.
Sanial, who is a pastor, said contributions for the religion activities from Ewon’s office have been channelled not only to churches, but also other religious bodies.
“His initiatives include more than RM120,000 to mosques and suraus, while Kadamaian Churches Council received around RM200,000 for the past two years.
“He had used the past two years as our leader to the best of his ability to meet the needs of the people in his area. However, in this short period of time, it is not easy to fulfil all the rakyat’s wishes, butEwon had successfully brought many development here.
“Personally, his excellent performance is not only bringing allocation to develop Kadamaian, but also channelling aid to the needy families,” he said.
Meanwhile, chairman of Persatuan Penanam dan Pengusaha Lada Hitam (PLAS) Kota Belud, Janus Tioon, thanked Ewon for his support in helping the association to apply for grant from TERAJU and Yayasan Sabah.
With his suppprt, Janus said the association was able to build a black pepper factory in Kampung Lompios.
“In 2017, when Ewon was not even the assemblyman for Kadamaian, he had donated black pepper seeds for a group planting activity.
“It was given to me at first, but I distributed it to five groups in our kampung, so that we could learn how to grow black pepper.
“From 50 seeds each group, we now have more than 1,000 trees individually.
“This year, we received another assistance from Ewon who handed over 1,000 seeds to allow more growers to join our project. We have our own factory now, and we have our own products from the plant,” he said.
Janus added that Ewon’s other contributions to their village include road upgrades, cash donation to beautify Taman Tamu Lompios, and also building tourism roads.
“I believe if Ewon is given the mandate to lead Kadamaian, we can see many other villages will have the opportunity to grow like our village,” he said.