Undoubtedly, things are looking up for Sarawak in the process of migrating from the medium income to high income economy towards the year 2020 and beyond. It is moving away from over dependent on agro- based to heavy and hi-tech industries in Bintulu, Tanjung Manis and Kuching, which has a lot of hi-tech industries.
Generally the development looks quite good as during the last 30 over years the State Government has been spending an average of more than RM3 billion for development annually. For example, the State can boast of a good continuous network of roads both in the coastal areas and the interiors.
Arguably infrastructure is the most important enabler for economic development. However, Sarawak has never been an easy geographical region to develop due to its vast physical expanse of about 124,449 square kilometres or 37.7% of Malaysia’s total land mass, difficult terrain to traverse and dotted with widely dispersed population.
Despite the challenges, the State government has over the years successfully built more roads and bridges linking major towns to secondary towns and rural settlements. The State is now served by a system of road network of about 20,333 km long compared to only 1,340 km in the early years of independence.
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| Express boats berthed at Kapit Wharf Terminal ready for the next trip |
In order to further expand the infrastructure coverage in the State, we are working closely with Federal Government to develop more infrastructures especially under the National Key Result Areas for Rural Basic Infrastructures. Under these programmes, an additional 770 km of rural roads will be built, the rural electricity coverage to increase from 66% to 95%, while the rural water coverage is expected to expand from 57% to 90% by 2012.
The government’s decision to develop the huge power potentials in the hinterland, give the economic justifications to build more roads linking the power sources in the hinterland to the urban centres. The construction of the roads will also open up more areas in the hinterland to unlock its economic potentials especially for land development and eco-tourism that will benefit the rural people.
Until the early 80s, the demographic pattern was nearly 70% rural and about 30% urban. Now it is more or less 50% rural and 50% urban and the rate is coming up in favor of the urban areas. Despite the migration from rural to urban areas, the Government has been making conscientious efforts to bring development into Sarawak’s rural hinterlands.
The target is to provide more than 90% of rural households with water and electricity by 2012. Both State and Federal governments are introducing various incentives to develop the cottage industry in rural areas. This, in effect, prepares the rural people with the choice of staying or migrating to urban areas. Modernisation, after all, is about improving people’s standard of life, and it does not preclude people from maintaining their culture.
Now the State Government, through various land development agencies namely LCDA, SALCRA, SLDB and others has planted nearly 1 million hectares of lands with palm oil. That gives quite a good spread of development in the rural areas. Understandably, the major challenge is to accelerate the pace of development in urban areas to cope with the migration of the people from rural areas to towns and cities.
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| Long boat from Long Lama to Marudi |
Chief Minister, Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud, in an interview with a local daily believes that the State government has been able to establish a more efficient market system in rural areas. In other words, the State government has broken the problem of developing rural Sarawak. The success provides the basis of a modern economy.
Previously, the markets only existed in Kuching, Sibu, Miri and Bintulu. The other towns were very sluggish. There were spots of development here and there mainly due to the development of timber industry. Undoubtedly, the State government has been able to diversify the economy and embark on the program of industrialization; it has even introduced hi-tech industrial program.
Basically, the State government, with the support and co-operation of the Federal Government has been able to change the landscape of the economy from mainly small holders’ agriculture to estates development, which has even converted smallholders owned by people into large estates thereby strengthening the mechanism.
Understandably, rural areas can only flourish if efforts are made to make it easier and less expansive for the people to transport their goods for sale to mark and bring back goods that they require to their villages or longhouses.
The state government under Tun Haji Abdul Rahman Ya’kub, since the early 70s after the successful efforts to contain the security threat from the Clandestine Communists Organisation, started to beef up development efforts to push Sarawak from the backwater lane of development then to become one of the fastest developing State in the country now.
Pehin Sri Abdul Taib is quite satisfied that Sarawak has been doing well in spite of the fact that it has huge land surface and the population scattered over 5,000 settlements throughout the rural areas. All of them are small with 60% of them having less than 50 families each. The State government has to create the critical mass by joining some of settlements together in order to trigger market activities on the ground. Obviously, the concept of the critical mass has been able to spread development to rural areas.
He admits more need to be done to improve health facilities in the State. The Ministry of Health standard rule of one district one hospital cannot meet Sarawak’s need for better health services. A district, which may be as big as Pahang, will have a population of 25,000 to 35,000 only.
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| The RM500-million road linking Sibu with Tanjung Manis |
Therefore, the State government has been trying to recommend to the Ministry to set four or five regional hospitals, to provide secondary services to the people. Their services can continue to be supplemented by the flying doctor services until most of rural areas can witness a change in the population pattern. It can be anticipated more and more people will move to palm oil estates or small towns and cities in the future.
Pehin Sri Abdul Taib believes Sarawak will not have a scattered population all over the rural areas by the year 2030. Then the pattern of economic activities will also be different. Sarawak can be served better by Flying Doctor Service and Telemedicine. The expenditure will be much less and the services more effective as they can reach the people at the ground level. Otherwise, one hospital may only serve the immediate neighbourhood while others scramble for services at a dispensary.
Pehin Sri Abdul Taib says he will continue to contribute his own way to any movement that can channel moderate Chinese, who prefer to maintain their link with the government and co-operate with other races to bring about a good transformation for the future towards the year 2020 and beyond.
For example, he has been advising many community associations to start a non political movement with the primary objective to preserve Chinese unity and above all to preserve the goodwill that the community has been able to build with Bumiputras over the years. Whatever political differences that they have must not destroy that goodwill. The Chinese on their part must endeavor to remain part and parcel of the multi-racial society in the State and country even as a developed nation.
benuasains
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