KUCHING, July 3: The Sarawak government has set up a second State Planning Authority (SPA II) to handle land procurement for the construction of telecommunication towers in Sarawak.
According to a report by the Sarawak Public Communications Unit (Ukas), Deputy Minister of Utility and Telecommunication Datuk Liwan Lagang explained that SPA II would expedite the Premier of Sarawak Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg’s plan to build 7,000 telecommunication towers throughout the State to ensure that the people can enjoy good Internet coverage.
“Thus, I hope the local community can be patient as this development requires planning and many procedures besides facing issues related to the land site to build the towers.
“Now, the State government wants to buy land as sites to build these towers, but the procurement is no longer through the rental method. The procurement is quite a long process, namely through SPA chaired by the Premier.
“Because we want this matter to be expedited, that is why we created SPA II, specifically to get land for the site to build these towers later, and the SPA II will be chaired by Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan,” he said during a ‘Ngiling Bidai’ ceremony in Belaga on Friday (July 1).
Liwan, who is Belaga assemblyman, further said that the State government had implemented the Sarawak Alternative Rural Electrification Scheme (Sares) for the residents while waiting for the power grid to be pulled from Belaga and Kapit.
Apart from that, the Sarawak Alternative Water Supply (Sawas) project is also provided for the residents while waiting for the Nanga Merit water treatment plant to be completed.
Liwan also approved RM20,000 to the Women’s Bureau of Rumah Maggie during the ceremony. — DayakDaily
