By Peter Sibon
KUCHING, July 9: Serembu Assemblyman Miro Simuh said he has lost a great mentor with the passing of Datuk Seri Dr James Dawos Mamit late Monday evening.
Miro, who was a former private secretary to Dawos, described the latter as one of the most performing leaders among the Bidayuh elected representatives in terms of serving the constituents.
“I know him very well, as I was his private secretary for seven and a half years since 2009, while he was Deputy Minister of Tourism.
“During his tenure for four terms in Mambong, now Puncak Borneo, he has done a lot, especially in terms of infrastructure development like roads, electricity and water,” Miro told DayakDaily after paying his last respect at the latter’s residence at Taman Stutong Indah, here, today.
The PBB lawmaker added that under Dawos, Mambong became one of the most advanced semi-urban constituencies in Sarawak with all the basic facilities in place.
“We can’t compare it with, say … Petra Jaya (Kuching), because it is an urban area but he has brought so much development projects to the Mambong constituency. He had connected all the villages with roads in Puncak Borneo, which covers part of Bau and Serian,” he said.
He added that under former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, the late Dawos managed to bring in some RM250 million worth of projects to Mambong under the National Key Result Area (NKRA) initiatives.
“For instance, the Krokong Road used to be gravel road. He tar-sealed it until Kampung Tringgus. The same goes to Padawan Road including the link road to Tebedu Road, which he helped to tar-seal.
“This include water and electricity supplies and not to mention minor projects such as community halls, places of worship, schools and other facilities,” he said.
Miro believed Dawos was able to carry out the projects for the benefit of the people as he was a workaholic.
“He can work until the wee hours. The people of Puncak Borneo was very lucky to have him and I learned a lot from him.
“Now I will try to serve the people in my constituency as he did. He is really my mentor and I am his protege,” he continued. — DayakDaily
