By Karen Bong
KUCHING, March 1: “Slippery logging road on rainy days and dirt road on dry days” remain an issue in the interior of Baram which requires special attention from the federal government, especially with special funding, to narrow the development gap between Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak’s rural areas.
Highlighting this, Baram MP Dato Anyi Ngau thus proposed and appealed to the unity government to provide more funding to construct decent roads or at least fix the bad roads in Baram so as to improve the mobility and accessibility of the rural people in Sarawak.
“Good roads like those enjoyed by city folks are still far to be seen in Baram.
“In the last few days of (Parliament) sitting, we talked about a two to three lane highway, but today I want to highlight the situation in the interior of Baram and Sarawak, where we talk about logging roads that are slippery when it rains and dirt roads during the dry days.
“This is our situation in Baram,” he said when debating the National Budget 2023 in Parliament, Kuala Lumpur today.
Anyi added that previously, timber companies would repair the logging roads but now that logging activities have ceased, the logging roads are now abandoned.
“As such, I propose and appeal to the unity government and all relevant departments and agencies to seriously implement the needed development.
“(If the government) cannot build new roads, we (the people of Baram) will accept for the time being. But at least repair the roads so that it can be used to connect rural and urban areas,” he pointed out.
Anyi said having decent roads will enable Baram residents, especially the elderly and those who are sick, to access facilities like healthcare in the nearest towns and urban areas.
Anyi also urged the federal government to provide and approve more funding to expedite the upgrading and repair of dilapidated schools and health clinics in bad shape in Baram. — DayakDaily
