As we welcome 2012 we must remind ourselves that we are only eight years away from the year 2020, the dateline for the attainment of the National objective of becoming a developed nation. The State will be in the third year of implementation the Economic Transformation Program (ETP) the federal initiative to push economic migration from the agro-based diversified (medium economy) to an industrialised economy or the high income economy.
Sarawak has to run faster, as it started development six years later than Semenajung Malaysia. In terms of infrastructure development like building of roads, bridges, ports and airports, the State is still at the stage on development in the 90s in Semenanjung Malaysia. The special allocation of RM4 billion for infrastructure development in the beginning of this year from the Federal Government should be able to push further the development by year 2013.
Previously, the State had to deal with policies that hampered infrastructure development to such an extent that the state had to spend more money than the Federal government for it. The State, for example, had to answer very unnecessary questions like why it had to build many costly bridges, airports and ports; the Federal policy is one airport for one state.
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| Sarawak |
But the policy is not practical to Sarawak, which is about 94% of the total size of Peninsular Malaysia but with less than 10% of its population; some districts or parliamentary constituencies are bigger than most states there. For example, Mambong is almost as big as Johore and Baram, bigger than Pahang.
Sarawak with a total land size of more than 125,000 square KMs has 11 administrative divisions, 31 districts and 28 sub-districts. The small population is scattered over more than 5,000 settlements, comprising of longhouses, bazaars and traditional kampungs, with distances of anything from 10 to 45 KM apart. And 60% of the settlements each have less than 50 families.
The struggle to develop Sarawak, as a state in an independent nation, only commenced in 1963 with the realisation that the common desire and aspiration of the people in deciding to form Malaysia was to see that the development that had already started in Peninsular Malaysia could be extended to the State.
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| Durin Bridge |
However, the successive state governments, since September 1963 under Stephen Kalong Ningkan, the first post-Merdeka Chief Minister, Tawie Sli, the second Chief Minister and Tun Abdul Rahman Ya’kub, the third Chief Minister, were pre-occupied with the fights against armed insurgencies carried out by armed members of local Communists Organisation.
Efforts to establish a more efficient market system that helps to break the problem of developing rural areas could only start in 1981 by the State Government under the leadership of Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud, the fourth Chief Minister. Previously, there were only markets in Kuching, Sibu, Miri and Bintulu; the other towns were very sluggish. Today active market can also be found outside those main towns and the degree of competition in business is better and the quality of management, improving all the time.
Pehin Sri Abdul Taib, in his recent speech to declare open a commercial complex in Tudan Miri, says Sarawak is not only having a good market in Kuching, Sibu or Miri but also outside them. Generally, the State has active market and the degree of competition in business is better and the quality of management, improving all the time. The way of life of the people has changed because some local entrepreneurs are brave enough to undertake big jobs and deliver them in good time.
He says a local conglomerate Naim Cendera, for example, ventured into the development of Tudan, which not long ago was a jungle, to become a new township of Miri complete with modern shopping centres. The facilities should be able to provide some comfort and improve the quality of life of local residents as compared to those 15 or 16 years ago.
Besides, Naim Cendera has been farming out jobs to many small contractors to enable them to play their roles in real property development. As Malaysians of Anak Sarawak, the small contractors must develop their capability and sustainability in the development of real property market that can contribute towards the success in restructuring the economy.
Pehin Sri Abdul Taib recalls back in 1981, the population of Miri barely reached 100,000. Since thence, it has been able to develop fast and experience rapid growth in the population to become what it is today a city with a population of more than 350,000; Miri has become the second city in Sarawak. It used to be the third behind Kuching and Sibu.
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| Sarawak SCORE |
Generally, the State is embarking on the era of massive industrial development, with SCORE as the showpiece that has been introducing hi-tech industrial program. SCORE was designed, after analysing the potentials of food production using biotechnology and the generation of sufficient energy at reasonable costs to cater for energy intensive industries.
The development of hydro dams to generate electricity requires huge investments. It entails construction of roads, numerous bridges, ports and airports and other infrastructural facilities. Works to construct roads to each hydro dam site in the interior parts of Kapit, Ulu Baram or Ulu Limbang have to cut across hills or mountains, deep ravines and rivers; the construction of roads alone requires huge investments.
Besides, the government is also developing coal-fired power generating stations each in Mukah and Ng. Merit (still in planning stage) to ensure that State will be able to produce a fair mix of energy from hydro power and coal toward the year 2020. The state has coal reserves of more than ½ a billion at Balingian in Mukah and Nanga Merit in Ulu Kapit.
Understandably, the response from world industry players has been very positive. More big firms, which require huge amount of energy for their plants or factories, have expressed their interests to set up industries in Sarawak. That means Sarawak has to develop more hydro dams to generate electricity that can be charged at reasonable costs to consumers.
Sarawak has already embarked on a series of programs to generate more than 20,000 megawatts of electricity by the year 2030. However, the new development ahead will require people with technically biased qualifications, skills and training to do the jobs. For example, more and more people with technical skills and expertise will be required to operate the systems and processes in industrial plants.
It is projected that SCORE will create 1.5 jobs by the year 2030 or in the next one generation. There will be a lot of industries, which will require people will skills and training, to come up in the next five years. Therefore, conscientious efforts must be made to train children to acquire necessary knowledge and skills to take up the jobs. Generally, Sarawak is looking at the overall economic transformation of the country, the total impact of the economic transformation throughout the nation in carrying out the economic transformation program.
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| The current largest and longest bridge in Sarawak is the Batang Lebaan Bridge with 1240 meters length (Sibu -Tanjung Manis) |
It can be anticipated the job market in the country will gradually be integrated. For Sarawak, the danger is not in having outsiders but having them suddenly in large numbers without making prior preparations. In this respect, children in Kampungs or longhouses must be given the necessary training to co-ordinate their way of thinking with skills in using their hands to do things.
Generally, the rural areas can flourish if they can become more accessible and less expansive for the people to transport their goods to towns or cities. The successful development of rural areas manifests half of the transformation of Sarawak with the second half taking another 20 years.
The State can have a brighter future as long as the people can work together in pursing the common aspiration. Even now the people can see the objective of vision 2020 achievable quite comfortably provided they can safeguard social and political stability in the State. For this reason, the people, in spite of their differences, must remain motivated and focused in serving the State and country. More importantly, they must have the discipline and focus in whatever they do in the overall struggle for nation building.
benuasains
*Photos Source:
google.com
http://ccwen08.blogspot.com/2011/04/short-trip-to-tanjung-manis.html
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