KUCHING: The position of ketua kampung (village head) should be considered as a full-time role with reasonable and justified remuneration, said Tasik Biru assemblyman Datuk Henry Harry Jinep.
He suggested that annual incentives should be considered, alluding to the monthly allowance of RM300 which would be paid to the secretary of each Village Development and Security Committee (JKKK) starting this month, as revealed by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas recently.
He said that village heads devoted most of their time to managing and monitoring their villages, assisted by members of their JKKK.
“Not only that, they also need to attend to many issues like marriage and divorce, in addition to being at Court, meetings, conferences, and many more official functions,” he told New Sarawak Tribune.
He pointed out that informal matters such as those concerning death and the sick were also part and parcel of the village heads’ roles, though not specifically mentioned in their scope of duty.
“JKKKs under the leadership of the ketua kampungs have been doing an excellent job,” he commended.
Henry said that they were the keeper of almost everything in their respective villages – especially with regard to population, social matters, economy, welfare, land matters, customs, and so on.
“The bigger the kampung, the bigger the population and the wider the scope of responsibility. Thus, more time is spent.
“There is no ‘eight to five’ kind of responsibility for ketua kampungs and their JKKK members,” he said.
He emphasised that they therefore needed to be compensated accordingly.
“Most of these ketua kampung are knowledgeable and have a certain level of experience and good educational background, and they are also very committed,” said Jinep.
Uggah had said that JKKKs would be empowered with more community development responsibilities as agreed by the state government.
This included getting JKKKs directly involved in the implementation of rural transformation projects.
