Letter to Editor
By Baru Bian
I was surprised to read in today’s Borneo Post that Deputy
Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr James Masing is missing a ‘thank you’ note from me
for the government’s effort in upgrading the Long Luping-Ba’ Kelalan Road.
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| Tough time trying to pass this muddy and deplorable Long Lupong-Ba'Kelalan road |
I am surprised because there has been no upgrading of
that road.
Obviously he has not visited the area, nor has he
received accurate information about the condition of the road.
After the heavy rains, the road became damaged and
impassable.
Samling only went in to help to pull cars out of the mud
and to clear away the mud and debris.
We are yet to see any upgrade, much less the completion
of the road to R1 standard, yet the deputy chief minister is waiting to be
thanked!
I find it unbelievable that Masing can be so proud of
this type of road that he wants me to thank him for it.
Compared with the roads in West Malaysia, our rural roads
are nothing to shout about. Even Sabah has better roads than ours.
In the Kundasang
area, there is a very good road cutting through Crocker range. Our mountain
elevation is only half as steep, yet we cannot provide a road half as good as
theirs.
Last year, I had proposed that the government build a
parallel highway along the hinterland and Masing seemed to be supportive of it. As the
minister in charge, we hope that he can deliver.
If Masing really wants to be fair, as he is reported to
have said, then where is the RM5 million RTP allocation for the opposition
ADUNs?
It was clearly
stated last year by the Chief Minister’s chief political secretary that the RTP
and MRP funds are not available to opposition ADUNs.
BN politicians are
unashamedly using even the ‘tong biru’, e-kasih, allocation for flood victims,
BR1M as political tools, and this is common knowledge to the people.
Aside from the fact that it is plain embarrassing to
expect to be thanked each time for carrying out the government’s
responsibilities and duties towards the people, this statement from the
honourable DCM is a reflection of the outdated ‘towkay’ attitude of some of the
BN old-timers.
One cannot help but be reminded of the cringe-worthy DUN
speeches of some of those BN ministers heaping adoration and exaltation on
their ‘beloved’ Chief Minister in the days of old.
This arrogant attitude of some of the BN Ministers and
elected representatives needs to go.
They must realise that they are elected to serve the
people, and are paid out of the public purse to do so.
They should be the ones who thank the people for putting
them in their eminent positions of influence, which are used shamelessly by
some to amass great wealth for themselves and their families and cronies.
They should thank the people for paying taxes and GST and
for putting up with an incompetent government for so long.
Many of these BN politicians live lavish lifestyles that
cannot be supported merely by their salaries as people’s representatives and
ministers.
In contrast, the majority of the natives of Sarawak in
the rural areas live in conditions that have hardly changed in the over 50
years of BN rule.
Poor infrastructure, inadequate medical facilities,
dilapidated schools, no access to grid electricity and treated water are some
of the conditions these people have to put up with.
These BN politicians should apologise to the people for
failing them all these years, not only in allowing the Federal government to
neglect Sarawak for so long but also for being complicit in this shameful
neglect.
Proper roads and infrastructure are merely basic rights
of the people and a responsible government should provide these as a matter of
course.
The people should not have to resort to begging and going
to the press to shame the government into action, such as the people of Ba’
Kelalan have done last year.
And when the government finally bucks up to ‘upgrade’ a
road (which isn’t even upgraded), to expect a thank you is simply unbecoming.
There is no need to shout about something as basic as a
road, and any minister who does so, and wants to be acknowledged for it,
clearly shows political motives.
Masing also conveniently forgets that the area he is
talking about is under a PBB/BN parliamentarian. I wonder if he has pointed out
to the said parliamentarian that a ‘thank you’ is in order!
Nevertheless, if my memory does not fail me, I have
acknowledged the government’s efforts where warranted and in particular, I
recall commending Masing for his stand on matters such as religious freedom for
Sarawakians.
There are more pressing matters to be attended to rather
on keeping scores on ‘thank you’ notes, the most crucial being the recognition
of pulau galau and pemakai menoa rights of the natives of Sarawak.
If the honourable Masing can assist the honourable Deputy
Chief Minister (1) Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas to effect an amendment to the
Land Code to recognise these rights, then not only will I thank him personally,
but all the Dayak communities of Sarawak will shout their thanks to the BN
government from the river banks to the mountain tops.
Although it would be a little bit late, late is still
better than never.-February 20, 2018
Note: Baru Bian is State Assemblyman for
Ba'Kelalan and PKR Sarawak chairman.
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