KUCHING, Sept 16: Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas says the statement of Deputy Rural Development minister Sivarasa Rasiah reflects the ignorance of outsiders of Sarawak’s traditional system of appointing grassroots leaders.
He said for two authorities to appoint two different sets of leaders such as ketua kaum and ketua masyarakat will be very disruptive to the stability, harmony and solidarity of Sarawak.
“Our stability and harmony have been solidly entrenched among more than 5,000 rural longhouses, villages and settlements in Sarawak.
“We have our own Standard Operation Procedure (SOP) in appointing our ketua kaum and ketua masyarakat and this system has worked very well for the state government, the people at large and the rural communities in particular,” Uggah said in a statement today.
As a basic criteria, he said the state government listens to voices on the ground for the recommendation of the candidates.
“Sivarasa should have made efforts to understand our system which may be different from those practised in his own place before coming up with such statement,” said Uggah.
As this has never happened before, Uggah hoped that it will not happen soon.
Sivarasa had announced that the federal government will appoint their own Tuai Rumah or community Leaders in the state.
Sivarasa said the idea was mooted after the federal cabinet decided to revamp and rebrand the Village Development and Safety Committee (JKKK) to Village Community Management Council (MPKK) in June last year.
At Sarawak Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Branch Annual General Meeting (AGM) opening dinner last night (Sept 15), Sivarasa had said that the mechanics of the appointment of tuai rumah and community leaders in Sarawak will be worked out by the ministry, and is expected to be revealed some time in January next year.
Meanwhile, on Sivarasa’s allegation that the state government had rejected the allocation from the PH government to pay for the salaries of ketua kaum, Uggah wished to inform Sivarasa that this was a fallacy at its best.
“When PH took over the federal government, they had in fact took the unprecedented step to decrease the monthly allowance of each tuai rumah, ketua kampung and kapitan to a mere RM500 per person from the previous RM900.
The State government had then taken it upon itself to pay the extra RM400 in order to top it up to RM900.
The State Government is solely responsible for the salaries of the ketua masyarakat who are the Temenggong, Pemanca and Penghulus,” Uggah replied.— DayakDaily
