More money for Sarawak

In today’s paper, Najib said he will assure that more money for Sarawak in the next 10th Malaysia Plan. Immediately, it came across my mind the following questions:

1. How much more?
2. Who benefits from that fund?
3. How would the rakyat know that, the fund are really for the people, not for “Certain People”?

Like before and always, there’s no transparency in implementing any kind of project. Only a certain people did really enjoy the “isi” and the rakyat will, like always, get the “kuah”. This has been the federal practice towards us, especially Sabah and Sarawak.

Another question which I love to ask is, why is it only now that the federal really take care of Sabah and Sarawak? Why? Is it because of the change of leadership? Or is it because of the result of the previous GE which might have woken them from sleep? Well, if it so, good for Sarawak. At least they are awake before the thieves take away their beloved empire from them. This means too, the result of the previous GE really scare them to death.

SCORE

SCORE (Sarawak Corridor Of Renewable Energy) telah dilancarkan di Bintulu pada tahun 2008 sebelum pilihanraya umum ke 12 oleh Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.   Difahamkan SCORE mempunyai visi dan misi untuk mewujudkan 1.6 juta peluang pekerjaan kepada rakyat negeri Sarawak menjelang tahun 2030 dan seterusnya dapat menaikkan taraf kehidupan rakyat di kawasan yang terbabit.

Namun, sehingga hari ini, sudah hampir setahun berlalu semenjak pelancaran SCORE, belum nampak tanda tanda program tersebut akan dilaksanakan.   Apakah kita perlu menunggu selama 5 tahun lagi untuk menikmati hasil daripada program tersebut, iaitu apabila menjelang pilihanraya yang seterusnya, PRU ke 13 nanti?

Nampaknya, kerajaan ingin menjadinya sebagai platform bagi mengabui mata rakyat serta menarik undi rakyat.   Mungkin kerajaan BN sudah tidak ada isu lagi.   Kita sebagai rakyat biasa yang langsung tidak ada pengetahuan tentang hal ini tentu akan percaya 100% kepada manifesto tersebut.   Kenapa mengambil masa yang begitu lama untuk memulakan perlaksanaan program tersebut, sedangkan kerajaan BN hanya ada masa selama 22 tahun untuk mencapai matlamat 2030?

Apabila sampai waktu untuk memilih kerajaan yang baru nanti, sudah tentu kita akan menconteng lambang dacing lagi kerana takut program tersebut tidak dapat diteruskan dan tidak diberi peruntukan untuk menjalankan pembangunan.   Seperti lazimnya, selepas habis pilihanraya, kita akan kembali sebok mencari nafkah dan sudah pasti akan lupa akan manisfesto tersebut, sehinggalah tiba masa pilihanraya yang seterusnya.   Begitulah dari dulu sehingga sekarang tidak ada perubahan pada amalan kerajaan BN.

Wasted land lots

The land lots at second phase of Sg. Plan resettlement scheme costs around RM13,000.00 to own. This price is exclusive of earth fillings. The house building costs is yet another head cracking expenses, especially so for the medium and low income group owners of that particular land lots.

Amongst the 169 people who were lucky enough to get the land via casting, hardly 20 of them managed to construct their houses as of this date. It is either that they don’t need this land or could not come up with enough funds to settle the land and to build their houses. In fact, there are a lot of people out there who really deserve that small piece of land to build their houses.

According to the terms and conditions of purchase of that particular land lots, owners were given a 6 months period to make full settlement, failing which the land would be withdrawn by BDA and resold to other people. Now that over 3 years has passed by, no action has been taken by BDA to recover that unsettled land lots. From the way it is now, this project was created nothing more than to benefit particular politicians and some influential people.

Whatever it is, it’s another example of a waste of resources and disregards of public interest and rights committed by BDA.

Excerpt from Bintulu.org news portal

Jepak assemblyman attributes Sarawak economic growth to good leadership

October 20, 2008

“The strong economic growth and development in Sarawak is due the caliber of leadership and good policies implemented by the government said Jepak assemblyman Datuk Zulpilip in his “Hari Raya” open house here yesterday.

The open house held at Kampung Assyakirin were attended by some 1,000 people including Head of State Tun Abang Muhammad Salahuddin and wife Toh Puan Norkiah, government department heads and community leaders from around Bintulu division.

Talip said Sarawak is endowed with rich natural resources but if there is no good government and good policies implemented, such natural resources would not be fully exploited for the benefit of the people.

Citing Bintulu as an example the state assemblyman said there are plenty of job opportunities created in Bintulu that attracted not only people from other Divisions of Sarawak but also from all over the world.

Talip called on the people to continue supporting government efforts for continued development and prosperity.”

This is what I meant in my previous post, (Problems of Unemployment), the one highlighted in red.

Unoccupied flat units

The flats at Sg Plan resettlement scheme has been sold out since they first opened over 5 years ago. However, until now, there are still a lot of unoccupied units around. Nobody knows, what has happened to all these units. What a waste of resources!

When Suruhanjaya Pembangunan Perumahan Sarawak (SPPS) first allocate the units to the public, they did not properly screen the applicants. Some applicants applied these flat units just for the sake of applying when other people are doing so. The SPPS did not properly identify who really need these houses and who don’t. As a result, most are left vacant even though they have been sold. The SPPS should take prompt actions to repossess these overdue units and resell them to the needy as soon as possible.

Had the applicants been properly screened and the proper allocation system was followed, it wouldn’t have happened as it is now. They should not use the lucky draw system but should be based upon the applicants’ income’s capability and capacity. There are thousands of people who qualified and really needs these houses. What has happened to the gov’t policy of providing low cost housing for the people. What really happened was that, this scheme only benefited a few, not a majority of the people. In this case, only the lucky ones got them. In fact, this project was to benefit certain politicians and contractors, as what was happening everywhere. It is better still they don’t build any at all, so that it was fair to all the people.

If you have the chance to visit the squatters at Sebatang, Openg, Muzako and BDA Pasir Putih in Tanjung Kidurong Bintulu, you’ll be amazed to come across the plight of the people in this under-developed state. Why are people still living in squatters? Sad to note that, the majority of these squatters are bumiputeras. Why hasn’t the gov’t of BN really put up an effort to get rid of this situations. Each time Rancangan Malaysia and annual budget was announced, they have never failed to include poverty eradication measures in their agendas. But, how well were they being implemented? How well has the Politics of Development masterminded by Taib Mahmud help the people of Sarawak. What has the people, the voters, got in return for their generous votes? I think the gov’t have not done enough and have not provide enough low cost housing for the people, when in fact the people needs more.