By William Isau
SIBU, Oct 8: The Sarawak government has been urged to appoint a minister who is tasked with looking after the various Rascom Resettlement Schemes in Sarawak.
Sekuau Area Development Committee chairman, Councilor Henry Kanyan Vincent Rawing said these areas are very much in need of socio-economic, education and other types of development.
According to him, even though the resettlement schemes have representatives, it is not enough to ensure that various matters run smoothly.
“Rascom Resettlement Schemes such as in Sekuau, Nanga Tada, Nanga Ngungun and Jagau each have representatives at the State Legislative Assembly and Parliament levels from the ruling government but it really needs a minister to be held accountable for the matter.
“With the presence of the minister, all the requirements may go smoothly and any related problems will be resolved faster,” he said at a press conference here today.
Citing a case in Sekuau as an example, Henry told that Tamin assemblyman Christopher Gira Sambang has facilitated many development plans for Sekuau.
Among them is a proposal to build a Medan Selera costing RM100,000 but which could not be implemented because the land in Sekuau is under the Federal Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (FELCRA).
“Many projects cannot be implemented because Sekuau is developed by FELCRA, which is a federal agency. There are many complications or processes if a development is to be implemented there. In other words, you must ask or go through FELCRA first which involves a lot of complications,” he said.
Asked about the establishment of the Mid-Rajang Development Agency by the State government which includes the four Rascom resettlement schemes, he however opined that it would be difficult for the Sekuau Resettlement Scheme to be developed under the agency.
“As I said earlier, our settlement scheme is under FELCRA. That’s why we need a minister to solve all the problems in Sekuau,” he stressed. — DayakDaily
