KUCHING : Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas has appealed to all Sarawakians to remain united and give their full support to Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg in his effort to transform Sarawak to a high-income society by 2030.
Uggah, who is also the Infrastructure and Ports Development Minister, said that continual stability had accorded Abang Johari the opportunity of coming up with many new initiatives to generate more income and for the state’s future reserve.
He pointed out that many good things had come to Sarawak in 2022 while in the tail end of 2021, voters had given the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) 76 out of the 82 seats contested in the 12th state election, allowing the coalition to again administer the state.
“The year 2022 had been a great year for Sarawak despite the lingering COVID-19 threat. We, have done very well in protecting our people from the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic through our vaccination and booster dose programmes.
“Generally, the optimism now is that the new year in 2023 will follow in the year 2022, with the same path of greatness,” Uggah said when conveying his New Year 2023 wishes yesterday.
He added that through the Post COVID-19 Development Strategy 2030 (PCDS 2030), the state government had been able to reboot the state’s economy from the devastating impacts of the pandemic.
Uggah explained further that the introduction of the PCDS 2030 has allowed the state government to aim at transforming Sarawak to a high-income society by 2030.
With regards to the 15th general election (GE15) held during the last November parliamentary poll, he noted that Sarawakians again strongly vouched for continuing political stability and good governance when they voted for 24 GPS parliamentarians out of 31 seats contested.
“For us (GPS), a very strong representation means a lot for Sarawak. We will be on a firmer footing to negotiate and reclaim our eroded rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) and Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) Report 1962.
“For the sake of the nation, GPS supports the unity government. We want to see a very stable central government in Putrajaya that will focus its attention on strengthening development plans and programmes and our economic recovery strategy,” he said.
As for the Ministry of Infrastructure and Port Development (MIPD), Uggah stressed that the ministry’s mission in 2023 is to implement existing infrastructure projects according to schedule, complying with the standard and salvage all sick projects.
He revealed that the ministry targeted to complete comprehensive planning of rural roads toward connecting all settlements that are yet to be connected by 2030.
Uggah added that this would require extensive discussions on reviewing the cost of road construction and currently it is still very high, involving the study of the use of local materials including on river gravel for road construction.
“Next is rehabilitating sick projects and in July 2022, there were 91 sick projects. The number had been reduced to 35 as of Nov 2022. I have given the Public Works Department (JKR ) until July 2023 to complete tendering all the 35 sick projects.
“For 2023, MIPD has a budget of RM795.7 million to carry out new Infrastructure, riverine ports, public and government buildings.
“We need to utilise the fund fully and transparently so the rakyat, especially those in the distant interiors, will get what they rightly deserve. In this respect too, we must avoid the obnoxious sick project occurrence at all costs,” he said.
Uggah also asserted that the ports have a pivotal role in the attainment of PCDS 2030.
Reiterating further, he said the ministry must install the much needed modern port facilities to top up efficiency and efficacy.
“We will have a Port Masterplan Study starting with the Miri Port Authority first. We hope that in June, we can come up with some proposals to the government on the way forward for our ports.
“This will make 2023 a daunting and challenging year for all of us at the ministry, the JKR, the port authorities, and all relevant departments under it.
“Additionally, Unit for Other Religions (UNIFOR) will continue its programme to assist houses of worship of Christian, Buddhist, Sikh, Taoist and Bahai and we will also continue to assist mission schools in 2023 as well as record our appreciation to our Premier for his generosity to allocate RM100 million to UNIFOR,” he said.
Uggah also urged all Sarawakians to take the booster dose and precautionary measures to prevent infection as the COVID-19 is still lingering within the community.
‘This is evident because of the number of cases reported every day in Sarawak,” he added.
