By Karen Bong
KUCHING, Aug 11: Hulu Rajang MP Datuk Wilson Ugak Kumbong has urged for additional allocations under the Hostel Meal Assistance for boarding schools such as SMK Selirik, SMK Baleh and throughout Sarawak to be expedited immediately.
“In the last 50 years, we see that the education system in Sarawak has soared higher but the educational facilities remained the same as 30 years ago.
“I also hope that the facilities are upgraded to comply with strict safety standards,” he told the Dewan Rakyat today.
On health issues, Ugak emphasised the need to equip Kapit Hospital with a CT Scan machine to enable people access to better healthcare services.
“If not, they have to make return trips to Sibu just to access the facility. I urged that the Health Ministry urgently consider this request,” he said, adding that the Deputy Health Minister II Datuk Aaron Ago Dagang had looked into this matter in more depth during his working visit to Kapit.
As for the agriculture industry, he suggested that the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry give special attention to communities in the rural areas especially in Sabah and Sarawak for the paddy fertiliser subsidy scheme and the paddy production incentive scheme.
“This is to help them (farmers) produce more yields, more so since the Movement Control Order (MCO) was implemented as most of them are struggling to increase their daily wage,” he informed.
Ugak also urged Malaysia Oil Palm Board (MPOB) to increase the number of staff at the station located in Sg Asap, Belaga in order to deliver better services to the small scale oil palm operators in particular.
“Sarawak is the second state in Malaysia to contribute significantly to the oil palm plantation involving 0.840 million hectares or 16.6 per cent.
“However, there is an imbalance in the distribution of staff quota in Sg Asap, especially where most small-scale oil palm operators do not get much attention and support,” he said.
The lack of staff, he added, should not be an excuse for failing to provide the best service to the operators.
In addition, Ugak pointed out that Malaysia being the second-largest oil palm producer in the world was facing big challenges in determining the price of oil palm in the global market.
“I suggested that the Ministry look seriously into the ceiling price of oil palm so that it can be fixed at a rate of RM500 per tonne,” he proposed.
He emphasised that Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) hopes that every ringgit allocated and spent will be distributed evenly among states in Malaysia by taking into consideration the vast and complicated terrain of Sarawak which are far different from Peninsula Malaysia.
“I hope the federal government will take this into account to ensure that every physical and human capital development in Sarawak becomes an agenda of the government,” he added.—DayakDaily
