Ahead of schedule but delayed

Extract: Borneo Post 12th July, 2008 Page 8

I was excited (at first glance) to read this piece of news this morning… and how nice it was written.. ahead of scheduled but delayed! Is that how the politicians see the progress of a project?

Extract: Borneo Post 12th July, 2008 Page 8

Extract from Borneo Post

Roads in all rural villages in 10 years
By Anthony Joseph

Participation of private sector needed to speed up process: Ose

MIRI: The government’s determination and seriousness in bringing development to rural areas was reflected recently in the federal government committing itself to ensuring that all rural villages would have roads in the next 10 years.

Miri Resident Ose Murang said this when briefing foreign trade representatives on a familiarisation trip of Sarawak yesterday.

It was jointly organised by the Malaysian Timber Council (MTC) and Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation (STIDC).

The government is committed to bringing development to the country including rural areas.

The development would be mainly driven by land development, industries, manufacturing and service sectors in a sustainable way, Ose said.

“We do this in order to improve the quality of life of the people and for this, we need to provide supporting infrastructure such as roads and information communication technology (ICT) in rural areas,” he said.

Ose admitted that the government needed the investment and participation of the private sector to speed up the process.

“We have a lot of challenges in the form of geography, physical constraint of topography as well as very small population.

“We need the effort on the part of the community to change their attitude and mindset,” he said.

In order to achieve development and progress, rural communities themselves must be receptive, proactive and discard some of their cultural and traditional values that were not conducive to development.

Apart from that, the government faced some constraint such as availability of adequate funding and environmental issues, he added.

Ose commended the effort made by logging companies that heeded the voice from the community not to be left behind compared to those living in urban areas.

He said the government acknowledged and appreciated the corporate social responsibility of the logging community such as their building longhouses, schools and other facilities for the comfort of the rural community.

Some logging companies had taught the Penan community how to farm, for instance, especially those in Long Jekitan.

Ose said among the efforts to get Penans into the mainstream of development was to resettle them in government-built longhouses and service centres such as those in Batu Bungan, Long Kevok and Long Jekitan.

“These service centres are provided with schools, clinics and agriculture centres. We also recruit volunteers to serve them, about 30 of them now; and more to be recruited.

“The government also provides assistance to students by giving free school uniforms and stationery including transporting them from the village to school.”

Ose said the efforts made by the government showed that the Penans were not neglected or made outcast. Infact the government was proactive in the measures and steps taken to bring the community into the mainstream of development.