Meradong assemblyman Datuk Ding Kuong Hiing said the Bintangor Sports Complex has never been renovated since its commissioning in the early 1970’s.
“The running tracks are badly worn out and the buildings are seriously run-down. They need to be upgraded to enable us to continue training many more young athletes to compete at every level,” he said at the state legislature assembly yesterday.
On the newly passed Sarawak Heritage Bill 2019, he said that during the debate on November 5, Kota Sentosa MP Chong Chieng Jen “made a meal” out of Clause 16(1) which states “any person, other than a native of Sarawak, who is in possession of any antiquity, shall register such antiquity with the director or other officers”.
“But when his big boss, while attending their so-called Dignity Convention recently said that Chinese and Indians are ‘pendatang’ (immigrants), he chose to remain silent. This is a typical example of a two-faced person,” Ding remarked.
Touching on the federal Village Community Management Council (MPKKP), he highlighted that its introduction was a “political move to divide and manipulate the villages and longhouse people”.
“The federal Finance Minister can argue what he likes on the actual word he used to describe the role of MPKKP, but the wickedness of it cannot be denied,” he said.
He said that “untoward incidents” or “the breaking up of longhouses” due to the formation of MPKKP can be foreseen.
“The Pakatan Harapan (PH) government must be held responsible for all such consequences,” he emphasised.
Ding also mentioned that he was recently made to understand that there was a verbal instruction from the Education Ministry to bar Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) representatives from entering government schools.
“For my Meradong area, I have channelled more than RM5 million of RTP (rural transformation project) funds since 2016 to upgrade infrastructure in almost every school.
“However, recently the headmasters when seeking approval from the higher authority to invite me to visit the schools, the applications were all put on hold,” he said.
Ding added that this was another example of the narrow-mindedness of the PH government which he said put politics above the interest of schoolchildren and teachers.
