By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Sept 1: Tamin assemblyman Ir Christopher Gira Sambang has urged the Election Commission (EC) to review its proposed redelineation of Sarawak’s State constituencies and create a new DUNS seat, Bukit Arip, by restructuring the boundaries of N.71 Tamin and N.72 Kakus under the P.214 Selangau parliamentary constituency.
Gira, who is also Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) Youth chief, said the proposal would give Selangau three State seats and provide more balanced representation for voters across the vast rural constituency.
He welcomed the EC’s proposal to increase the number of Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUNS) seats by 17, from 82 to 99, but expressed disappointment that Selangau had not been allocated an additional seat.
Under the EC proposal, Selangau, with 49,266 registered voters, would remain divided into two State constituencies of N.71 Tamin with 25,311 voters and N.72 Kakus with 23,955 voters.
Gira, who is also Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) Supreme Council member, said the distribution was disproportionate when compared with other parliamentary constituencies with similar voter numbers.
“Batang Sadong has 53,378 voters and four DUNS seats, while Kapit has 50,572 voters and four seats.
“Sri Aman, with 51,472 voters, has three seats, while Batang Lupar has 46,072 voters and three seats, and Hulu Rajang has 40,063 voters and three seats,” he said in a statement today, following EC’s official display of the proposed 17 new State seats as part of Sarawak’s electoral boundary review for public viewing and examination across the State.
He pointed out that the average number of voters per DUNS seat in Selangau stood at 24,633, compared with 12,643 in Kapit, 13,345 in Batang Sadong, 13,354 in Hulu Rajang, 15,357 in Batang Lupar and 17,157 in Sri Aman.
“This means an elected representative in Selangau has to represent almost twice as many voters as an ADUN in Kapit,” he said.
Gira said the disparity became more significant when Selangau’s geographical size and rural terrain were taken into account.
He said Selangau covers about 9,193 square kilometres and has hundreds of longhouses and scattered rural settlements, many of which are located considerable distances from one another.
“Tamin alone has about 400 longhouses, while Kakus has around 350.
“The considerable distances between settlements, inadequate road connectivity and basic infrastructure, as well as the need for rural development, place a very substantial service burden on elected representatives,” he said.
Gira stressed that electoral boundary delineation should not be based solely on the number of voters.
He said geographical size, travel distances, connectivity challenges, the number of settlements and the ability of elected representatives to provide effective services should also be considered.
He emphasised that the proposed Bukit Arip seat was not intended to provide a political advantage to any party.
“Rather, it is to ensure that people in rural areas receive more effective representation, services and development attention,” he said.
Gira said he, together with the PRS Youth leadership and members, would study the proposed electoral boundary plan in detail and submit a representation to the EC within the stipulated period.
He also called on the community and registered voters in Selangau to support the creation of Bukit Arip, saying it was in the long-term interests of residents in Tamin, Kakus and the wider Selangau constituency.
“The principle of equality does not mean that every constituency must simply have the same number of voters.
“True equality means ensuring that every citizen, including those living in remote and interior areas, has fair access to elected representatives, government services and development opportunities,” he emphasised. — DayakDaily
