By Ling Hui
KUCHING, Sept 14: The Sarawak government has so far spent almost RM3 billion to upgrade basic internet infrastructure in the State.
Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg said the expenditure did not include assistance given by the Federal government.
He explained that the huge cost incurred is due to Sarawak’s huge land size and other related technical problems.
“We have to spend a lot of money because the size of Sarawak is too huge to cover. Another problem is tearing, because the signal may not be able to reach the point of target.
“In other words, we have to spend a lot of money. So far, the Sarawak government has spent almost RM3 billion of its own to upgrade our infrastructure, besides the assistance given by the Federal government.
“And Sarawak cannot rely on the Federal government alone just because of its size. Other states also want the money,” said Abang Johari.
However, he said the Federal government’s limited funding is understandable and Sarawak will do its part to increase its revenue as much as possible for further development.
Abang Johari was speaking at the TRANSCEND Sarawak 2022 launching ceremony at Tegas Digital Village here today, accompanied by Deputy Minister of Energy and Environmental Sustainability Dr Hazland Abang Hipni, Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA) general manager Dr Zaidi Razak, and Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) vice-chancellor Professor Dr Ruzairi Abdul Rahim.
TRANSCEND, also known as Technology Enhanced Stakeholders’ Collaboration for Supporting Risk Sensitive Sustainable Urban Development is a platform aiming to emphasise the most recent discussions and findings that investigates processes, governance structures, policies and technology that can expedite a transition towards a risk-sensitive and transformative urban development.
The RESILIENT4WRD Lab: Resilient & Agile Cities for Future is one of the TRANSCEND outcomes which will utilise the MOBILISE digital platform as a digital tool to support agency collaboration, data and insight sharing to mitigate disaster such as flooding in Sarawak. — Dayakdaily
