By DayakDaily Team
BINTULU, Sept 11: Community leaders must identify longhouses that have yet to apply for government assistance to ensure their communities also have the opportunity to benefit from government allocations.
According to Sarawak Minister of Food Industry, Commodity, and Regional Development Dato Sri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom in a TVS report, this was important to ensure that allocations were not repeatedly channelled to the same recipients.
“I looked at the list of longhouses and found that there are longhouses that have never submitted applications.
“We need to identify these longhouses so their communities are also given the opportunity to benefit from government assistance,” he said at the MRP Cheque Presentation Ceremony for the Kemena constituency at the Bintulu Division Agriculture Department Office yesterday (Sept 10).
Dr Rundi, who is also Kemena assemblyman, urged all parties to help identify longhouses that had yet to apply for assistance so that no community would be left out of government allocations.
Meanwhile, he said longhouse meetings were important to ensure that community matters, including government projects and assistance received, were properly communicated to residents.
He stressed that longhouse chiefs must be transparent in handling such matters and keep residents informed to prevent misunderstandings, adding that any project or assistance received should also be raised during meetings.
According to him, longhouse meetings should be held at least four times a year, with brief minutes prepared and submitted to the district officer, provided the designated chairman chairs the meeting and a quorum is met.
At the ceremony, 89 recipients received MRP allocations amounting to RM1.23 million. — DayakDaily
