KAPIT: Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr. James Jemut Masing who is also the chairman of Upper Rajang Development Authority (URDA) has chaired the first URDA committee meeting held at the conference room of the State Office Complex at Jalan Bleteh on Tuesday.
“This is our first URDA committee meeting and we have the right to hold it in Kapit. During the meeting we are briefed and presented by the various ministries who are responsible for the development of URDA. First is by the Sarawak Attorney General (SAG) office to tell us the legal entity of URDA and that will define where we move forward. We understand that we do have a lot of liberty on what we can do. Whatever we suggest will be endorsed by RECODA because we are within the RECODA agency,” said Masing`.
Masing told that during the meeting they had agreed to include and increase the size of URDA. Before it was only Kapit district and then Belaga district and now we have agreed to bring it down onwards to include Song and Kanowit districts and this will have to be endorsed by RECODA board of management.
“The whole areas involve some four million hectares and in this area we need to discuss on what we need to do to put upper Rajang river basin on the road map so to speak and to make proper improvement on what we should do. The briefing that we get from the various ministries are very useful to us because they deliberate on what are the potentials that URDA can do,”Masing said.
He thanked the Chief Minister, Datuk Amar Abang Abang Johari for giving us the opportunity to run this agency so that how best we could development the upper Rajang river basin.
“This is just to understand that the development of upper Rajang river basin is very critical not only in this area but the whole of Sarawak. We have three big dams and two big dams have been built like Bakun and Murum and then followed later by Baleh dam by 2025. So this area under URDA will produce some 5400 megawatts of electricity and in fact we will power Sarawak not only with lighting but also the industries and that is why it becomes very useful. The state government and the CM understand it and that is why he created this agency URDA so that we can move forward to help develop Sarawak,” Masing pointed out.
He added that the other thing that they would like to have is the organisation structure and that would be done by RECODA under the leadership of its CEO Tan Sri Datuk Amar Wilson Baya Dandot.
Masing was pleased to note that it was a very good meeting because it was attended by all the state assemblyman and Members of Parliament.
“Though they are not members of URDA they are allowed to attend the meeting to give their inputs,” he said.
Also present together at the meeting were Tan Sri Datuk Amar Wilson Baya Dandot, Deputy Minister for Rural and Regional Development Datuk Alexander Nanta Linggi, Member of Parliament for Hulu Rajang Datuk Wilson Ugak Kumbong, State Assemblyman for Katibas Datuk Ambrose Blikau Enturan, State Assemblyman for Ngemah Alexander Vincent, Bukit Goram Assemblyman Jefferson Jamit Unyat, Pelagus State Assemblyman Wilson Nyabong Ijang, Murum Assemblyman Kennedy Chukpai Ugon, Machan assemblyman Allen SidenGramong, URDA board members namely Deputy State Secretary Datu Haji Ismawi Bin Haji Ismuni, Datu Haji Chaiti Bolhassan representing the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development), Rickson Kauka representative of Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture , Youth and Sports, Kapit Resident Joseph Belayong Punan, Bintulu Resident and a representative of Sarawak Energy Berhad and the heads of the various government departments.
