Joseph Jinggut
KAPIT (Nov 18): It is widely speculated that Democratic Action Party (DAP) will field Joseph Jinggut in the coming state election to challenge the supremacy of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB).
Joseph is the eldest son of former Dayak community leader, Temenggong Jinggut Atan. He is a former chairman of Kapit District Council and a political secretary to the chief minister. He is now the chairman of Sarawak Dayak National Union (SDNU) Kapit branch, a vice president of SDNU at state level and chairman of Kapit Area Farmers’ Organisation.
His younger brother Justine Jinggut was a two-term MP for Hulu Rajang.
Joseph confirmed his desire to contest in Bukit Goram when contacted by The Borneo Post recently.
“I am going to contest at N63 Bukit Goram in the coming state election to offer myself to the voters here. I hope this election will be carried out in a truly democratic manner, whereby people have the right to freely and independently choose their candidate to be their leader. This election is different from previous elections because for the first time the election will be conducted with Covid-19 standard operating procedures. The scenario would be – no assembly of crowd or political speech (ceramah), so more on social media or personal contact,” he said.
“I would like to draw public attention that now after 58 years under the BN-GPS (Barisan Nasional-Parti Gabungan Sarawak) rule, we are still lagging far behind in basic infrastructure and amenities – roads, electricity, water and wireless connectivity,” he added.
He lamented that because of lack of internet connectivity, rural children could not follow online lessons, which left them far behind those in the urban areas where they had good internet connection.
“Rural schools are dilapidated and neglected. Kapit town is congested with heavy traffic and there is absence of industries and career opportunities and so on. For 58 years, the issue was not resolved, making people in Kapit suffer.
“The elected representatives don’t stay in town, leaving us to suffer from the shortcomings,” he stressed.
“Kapit is rich in resources, contributing huge amount to the state income through timber royalty (now sunset industry), coal mining, hydro electricity at Bakun, Murum and soon Baleh Dam. We can’t even have a timber downstream industry to provide jobs.
“Our experienced lumberjacks now are working overseas. We don’t have a college or institution of higher learning. Our school leavers have to further their studies outside Kapit – in Malaya, Kuching or Sibu. We don’t have good hospital and proper healthcare for the people. The existing Kapit Hospital was a gift from the Methodist Mission. Kapit Hospital is congested and yet the state land in front of the hospital is now turned into shop lots instead of being used to build new block to provide more healthcare to the people,” he pointed out.
“As a local, I stay in Kapit. I come from a rural community (Mujong) and I know the needs of the grassroots. I offer myself to the voters. I appeal to you to make a wise choice. Choose someone who has the vision and willingness to bring changes to Kapit. I will contest under DAP this time,” he concluded.
Bukit Goram was carved out from the Pelagus state constituency. Its incumbent assemblyman is Jefferson Jamit Unyat from PBB. He garnered 4,596 votes against DAP candidate Larry Asap who obtained 2,010 votes in the 2016 state election to win the seat.
Bukit Goram has some 11,510 voters. The constituency extends from Nanga Baleh down to Melipis, Batang Rajang (Nanga Tule, Nanga Man, Sungai Kapit (Bukit Goram), Sungai Yong, Sungai Seranu, Sungai Goh, Sungai Menuan, Sungai Belawai, Sungai Ibau and Sungai Melipis. This semi-urban constituency is home to the Iban (majority), Chinese, Malay, Melanau, Orang Ulu, Bidayuh and others.