KUCHING, Nov 12: The resettlement scheme at Kampung Malaysia near the famous Red Bridge is far from satisfactory, asserts Meradong assemblyman Datuk Ding Kuong Hiing.
“The infrastructure in this village is poor and the lots are of swampy nature. Therefore, it is very expensive for the settlers to build their houses.
“I urge the state government to either allocate some funds to build affordable houses for these settlers or improve the infrastructure works which includes earth and sand filling at the resettlement scheme so as to enable them to build their houses,” Ding said in his debate for Supply (2021) Bill 2020 at the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting yesterday.
He also pointed out that Meradong has never had an affordable housing scheme to date.
As for the issue of stateless children in Sarawak, Ding said this has been a problem in the state for years and remains the same until today especially among rural communities.
“While there was a special committee led by Minister of Welfare and Community Well Being Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah tasked to look into this problem then, it was very unfortunate that this special committee was terminated when Pakatan Harapan took over the federal government.
“It is so frustrating to see children that can be vouched by local headmen as being with the community since birth but denied citizenship due to technicalities,” Ding lamented.
He urged the Sarawak government to state its determination to overcome stateless children’s issues with the federal government by working out some kind of arrangement to deal with the matter once and for all. — DayakDaily
