By GERALD LAWSON
SIBU: Agencies such as Felcra, Salcra as well as the state Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development Ministry have been proposed to be brought in to develop NRC land to spur economic development in the 13 districts which had been classified as poor districts in the country.
Sarawak Workers’ Party (SWP) president Munan Laja was the second person to have spoken on the matter after Kanowit PKR Division chairman George Chen following a statement made by Rural and Regional Development Minister Rina Harun.
Rina had on January 27 in Tangkak said there are a total of 28 districts which are poor districts. Out of the number, 13 of them are in Sarawak.
Pakan which is in the state is categorised as the poorest district in the country with a household income of only RM2,760.
“I refer to the statement highlighted by Rina Harun recently, that Pakan, Song, Kanowit, Selangau, Simunjan, Lubok Antu and Daro in Sarawak are among 13 poorest districts in the country, and to me it is not a surprise, as we can see and feel the hardship of the people there. They have no job, they can’t develop their land because of the lack of the infrastructure and government support,” said Munan in his press statement.
He said the people have no source of income and many of the longhouses dwellers especially the youths are moving to town to look for job.
“All these problems have been highlighted by the NGOs, political parties and the authority are aware of the grievances but instead that they have no good plan for these districts. The state of Sarawak is rich and it is the 3rd richest in Malaysia and is having reserve of RM31 billion.
“Why can’t we spare part of this reserve? What is the use of storing all the wealth when our people are poor?” he asked.
Munan said surely the properly planned development of the NCR land should be able to elevate the economy of the people in these areas which are Dayak majority areas.
“To uplift Dayak economy and their standard of living, SWP propose the authority to develop their huge track of land as that is their niche. I believe the members of the Dayak community in these areas are more than willing to develop their land if the policy is acceptable,” he added.
