BINTANGOR: The special allocation made available under the Rural Transformation Projects (RTP) is a unique approach introduced by the state government to help expedite development of the state’s rural areas.
It is a pro-active step to ensure development of the state’s rural areas is not neglected as the approval of development allocation for small and medium scale projects from the federal government is either delayed or insufficient, said Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Office (Corporate Affairs) Abdullah Saidol.
He noted that the situation was made even worse since the Pakatan Harapan took over the helm of the federal government, adding: “Until now, there seems to be a lack of commitment on the part of the federal government to assist in the development of the rural areas, especially in Sarawak.
“In fact, many projects and allocation that were duly approved by the previous federal government had been cancelled by PH when they took over Putrajaya. As such, we are very appreciative of the effort of the previous chief minister, the late Tok Nan in introducing the RTP,” he added.
According to Saidol, most if not all, of the state assemblymen, especially those serving the rural constituencies, admitted that the RTP had enabled them to speed up implementation of many basic amenities in their constituencies, such as village road upgrade and the construction of community halls and other minor projects.
“Sarawak is the only region in the state to have this unique approach in developing its rural areas, fully utilising the state fund,” Saidol, who is also Semop assemblyman added at a gathering jointly organised by Tanjung Bundong Village Development and Security Committee (JKKK), Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Tanjung Bundong branch, PBB Meradong and Saberkas Meradong branch yesterday.
Some 300 people attended the gathering which also saw Saidol presenting RM5,000 allocation to the Parent-Teacher Association (PIBG) Sekolah Kebangsaan Sungai Sian, RM3,000 to PIBG SK Tanjung Bundung and another RM3,000 for a Motivation Camp programme at SK Selidap.
He also presented Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) t-shirts to leaders and members of PBB Tanjung Bundong branch.
