KUCHING, Nov 27: Siburan will be elevated to a district while Balai Ringin will be elevated to a sub-district, Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg announced today.
With Serian Division seeing rapid transformation and expansion, he said the State Cabinet has agreed to upgrade Siburan and Balai Ringin with all necessary prerequisites and infrastructures to meet the status change into a district and sub-district, respectively.
“We will appoint a DO (District Office) for Siburan District in the Serian Division.
“(These developments will take place) because Serian is so developed and our services must be upgraded,” he said at the launching of Sarawak Government Administrative Centre Serian Division today.
Emphasising that the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government has a long-term strategy to develop the State, Abang Johari vowed to implement critical development that will benefit the people and find substantial funding if given a strong mandate by the people.
“If you give me the mandate, I will form the sovereign fund by next year to strengthen and maximise the financial resources of Sarawak for the future. The experts will help us as Norway, Singapore, and Brunei have done it, so Sarawak must prepare for it.
“This is our long-term strategy because if Sarawak has good revenue, we can do more to help the people,” he said.
Abang Johari added that this could be achieved with the stability and peace in Sarawak and the unity of the people as it allowed the government to focus on developing Sarawak.
“This (the new Serian administrative complex) is the result of our cooperation, collaboration, and unity from past to present leaders.
“I don’t think we could have achieved this if there were conflicts in our State. Imagine, even though the (Malay) race is the majority in Peninsula Malaysia, they are split; what will happen? So, what more to say about the minority races or small communities if split,” he said.
Abang Johari was grateful that all communities in Sarawak are united.
“The government, we look after everybody. This new era (which) I call the second wave of human development, is no longer dictated by political boundaries but transcended with technologies.
“The world has changed, and our mindset must also change. We must push forward for the better. We must continue to work hard for the future, and that’s why I started the digital journey for Sarawak,” he said.
Minister of Education, Science, and Technological Research Datuk Amar Michael Manyin Jawong; Assistant Minister of Transport Datuk Dr Jerip Susil; Assistant Minister of Youth and Sports Datuk Snowdan Lawan; State Secretary Datuk Amar Jaul Samion; and Serian MP Dato Sri Richard Riot Jaem were among those present. — DayakDaily
