By Peter Sibon
KUCHING, Nov 8: Kedup assemblyman Martin Ben wants Sarawak Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (Salcra) to issue land titles to 5,000 of its participants in his area.
“The issuance of land title for Salcra participants have been very slow to say the least. After 20 years since its first planting, only 2,000 titles have been issued to the participants of Kedup 1 and 2, Mongkos Taee and Melikin Estates.
“There are still more than 5,000 individual titles to be issued. This long delay has caused the participants to waiver on their confidence in the government and the state agency. Hence, I strongly recommend that the remaining titles be issued soonest or at least before the area are replanted,” he highlighted in his debate speech on the 2020 State Budget at the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) Sitting here today.
On another issue, Martin hoped that Serian would become an important hub for precision and smart agriculture.
“Serian can be Kuching’s satellite town. It is well-connected to the state capital and the ports. It has land for almost any form of modern agriculture. It has the population, working population to work the land and the factories.
“With regard to this, I hope the government will do feasibility study and identify potential area as an agriculture hub in DUN Kedup. With the huge track of low land area in kampungs like Bunan, Terbat, Mujat, Mongkos and Mentu, coupled with good infrastructure network and good water source, I believe these areas can be a major food producing hub,” he said.
The GPS-PBB lawmaker disclosed that between 2015 to 2019, some RM24.1 million worth of projects have been implemented and completed in his area under the Rural Transformation Programme (RTP).
On the political front, Martin lashed out at the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government for undermining the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government.
“GPS is a young government and we have a ‘young’ Chief Minister (Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg), who has been office for just three years. Yet, we have chartered several quite unfamiliar waters with confidence and got good results in return,” he pointed out.
Among the achievements were the setting up of Development Bank of Sarawak (DBoS), Petros, and Sarawak Trade and Tourism Office in Singapore (Statos).
“Our detractors couldn’t imagine these to be happening. They badly wanted to see the demise of GPS. They badly wanted to see Sarawak bankrupt and fall to its knees, begging from Putrajaya for lifeline.
“But all this did not happen and will not happen. On the contrary, Sarawak continues to flourish, economically, socially and politically. Sarawak continues to register success after success,” added Martin.— DayakDaily
