Obviously, the opposition, in dismissing the potential of Sarawak to become the richest State in the country by theyear 2030, is ignorant of the fact that the State government has a concreteplan to achieve the desired objective.
Admittedly, Sarawak,at this stage on development, is like Peninsula Malaysia in the 90s in terms ofinfrastructure development like building of roads, bridges, ports and airports.The state only started development in 1963 and has to run faster in order tocatch up with the development and progress of Peninsular Malaysia. The special allocation of RM4 billion forinfrastructure development in the beginning of 2011 from the Federal Governmentshould be able to push further the development by year 2013.
But, it is still notjustifiable for the opposition, which has only been making hot air andrhetoric, to condemn Sarawak as the fourthpoorest state in the country and that its development is being donehaphazardly.
Both DAP and PKR, incriticizing Barisan Nasional - led State government, conveniently ignore thefact that Sarawak, is about 94% of the totalsize of Peninsular Malaysia but with a small population of 2.6 million or 10%of the population of the latter; some districts or parliamentary constituenciesare bigger than most states there.
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FAMILARISATION TOUR: Dato Aloysius Dris leading the media group and Azam members to the Tokuyama plant. (Borneo Post Photo)
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The opposition willdo more good, if apart from making sharp criticisms of Barisan Nasional at thestate level, to drive home the points at the Federal level that Sarawak cannotbe treated just as a state in the Federation but a region that needs muchbigger allocation for development.
Sarawak has a total landsize of more than 125,000 square KMs with 11 administrative divisions, 31districts and 28 sub-districts. The small population is scattered over morethan 5,000 settlements, comprising of longhouses, bazaars and traditionalvillages, with distances of anything from 10 to 45 KM apart. And 60% of thesettlements each have less than 50 families only. The demographic pattern isalready a real challenge in development.
As the opposition has no experience in developing Sarawak and has no credibility to talk about its progressand development, the comments and criticisms should only be taken as a pin ofsalt. Understandably, the opposition, being urban bias, boasts of itscapability to develop double highways to major towns and cities throughout theState in less than five years.
But what about developing a good network of roads to connectthe longhouses in the hinterlands of Ulu Kapit, Ulu Baram and Ulu Limbang andthe traditional Kampung along the coastal areas to major towns or cities? Even places like Marudi, Long Lama, Kapit,Belaga and Tunoh, with huge potential of economic growth, have been bidding forroads to be constructed to connect them to growth centres.
DAP has pledged to scrap SCORE, which it claims to be anunnecessary burden to the people. But itfails to give the alternative plan to bring development to the hinterlands ofKapit, Baram and Ulu Limbang, which constitute the region in the middle of Sarawak that is still under-developed as compared tothose in Miri in the North and Kuching in the South.
Of course, the State government, unlike the opposition, hasthe concrete plan to develop Sarawak, throughSCORE, to achieve the desired goal. The response from investors to developheavy industries has been very good. Itis projected that Sarawak will be ableto secure more than RM30 billion worth of foreign investment to develop heavyindustries in SCORE development area in the next few years.
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| Engkabang nursery at SITC, Tatau |
Now it has to copewith the demands for more electricity by potential investors to set up heavyindustries towards the year 2020. At the moment Sarawak Electricity Board (SEB)has the capacity to generate more than 2,000 megawatts of electricity from1,000 megawatts during the last 50 years.
The development of Halal hub in Tanjung Manis is progressingwell. It requires more people to do life sciences and research. The development of hydro dams will createlakes and lots of islands in each of them. They will make the development of eco-tourismfeasible in areas, which used to be in the middle of nowhere, for the benefitsof the local people.
Generally, the development of Sarawak in the next 20 yearswill be beyond the imagination of even the present generation of Malaysians in Sarawak. Sarawakhas the real potential to become the richest state in the whole of Malaysia. However, the success hinges on thesteadfastness of the people comprising of various ethnic and religious groupsin preserving unity and co-operation among them.
They must not make issues merely to score political capitaland ruin the prospects of Sarawak to developfast. It is the only way to guarantee success in the pursuit of the commonstruggle to push the State far ahead towards the year 2030 and beyond. The factremains Sarawak, once in the backwater lane ofdevelopment is emerging as the fastest developing state in the country.
Chief Minister, Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud, in hisrecent speech, during the Chinese New Year gathering organized by thefederation of Chinese associations in Miri, says Sarawakis on the right track towards becoming the most prosperous state in the countrytowards the year 2030. Every community must be involved in the process. Thepeople, regardless of their ethnic origins, must remain focused in whateverthey do in order to achieve results.
When he told the Prime Minister about the State’s ambitionto become the richest state, the latter assured him if it could be done theFederal government would give all the support. The State government, with the experience to undertake very difficulttasks to push development during the past 50 years, should be able to do soprovided the people, comprising of the Chinese, Ibans, Bidayuhs, Malays, Orang Ulusand others can continue to work together toward achieving the common aim. Thatis the foundation of how Sarawak can grow towardsthe year 2030 and beyond.
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| Coal-fired generating station at Matadeng, Mukah |
Pehin Sri Abdul Taib says Sarawakis making conscientious efforts to develop technical education with the targetto produce more than 100,000 graduates and other kinds of technical people bythe year 2030. The standard of learningamong Sarawakians has gone up. His onlyinterest is to get the local people to be trained regardless of theirbackgrounds.
Besides, a ¼ million more people will undergo training atthe certificate level. The State government has no choice but to recruit youngpeople from rural areas to acquire all the skills. Generally, the youth from longhouses learn todo things fast as proof by their ability to work in logging camps or factories.They can even work in factories using new technology. That is the uniquecharacteristics of youth from rural areas.
Pehin Sri Abdul Taib reaffirms his belief that the peoplecomprising of about 30 ethnic and sub-ethnic groups, each with its own customsand traditions and other backgrounds, share the same future; it cannot be separated.In this respect, any movement, social or political cannot get one race toco-operate at the expense of other races.
He calls on Chinese leaders to work conscientiously tostrengthen the solidarity of the community. They should put their politicaldifferences aside to ensure that they remain united and provide avenues formembers to solve problems together with other races. The State or the country no longer has anythinglike in the old days. Besides, the State or country will use to the full thetalents that the people can produce in pursuit of greater progress anddevelopment towards the year 2020 and beyond.
benuasains
*Source:
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