KUCHING: Selangau MP Baru Bian did not dispute the findings that listed 13 districts in Sarawak among the poorest in the country.
“Well I can’t dispute the findings because I have not made any survey myself. But, it is not surprising because Sarawak is one of the poorest states in Malaysia. We should ask ourselves why we fell into such a category although we are amongst the richest in terms of natural resources.
“One response is that it reflects the failure of the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) government who ruled the state for the last 55 years and did not look into the affairs of Sarawak.
“As such, the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government is aware of this problem,” he said when contacted.
He added for that reason the current government have special emphasis on Sarawak as revealed by the Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahatir during the midterm review speech made in the last Parliament sitting.
However, Simunjan assemblyman Awla Dris was baffled on the findings of the research especially on the mechanism used in defining “poor”.
“Firstly, I have not read the survey report therefore, I cannot comment further. Secondly, I don’t know from which aspect or angle they used to define ‘poor’.
However, Awla said that in terms of economic aspect that it could be a possibility but however, he disagreed when it came to education achievement, infrastructure and connectivity, and that the constituency has experienced significant development over the years.
“If they look at income or economic aspects it may be true, but I don’t agree from the aspect of education achievement, infrastructure or connectivity,” Awla said.
