KUCHING: All eight components under the Blueprint for Bau District 2016-2030 are progressing well, said Tasik Biru assemblyman Datuk Henry Harry Jinep.
“Bau cannot be left out of Sarawak’s objective of becoming a developed state by 2030,” he said when met on Friday (July 16).
He said the state government had provided over RM500 million to Bau to start with for the past five-year period.
“In our blueprint, our total amount is over RM800 million. So we have another RM300 million to RM400 million towards the end of 2030 to make sure that Bau is in tandem with the state’s development towards 2030,” he said.
He said the eight components under the blueprint were amenities and infrastructures; housing and real estate; tourism, arts, culture, and sports; agriculture; capacity building; land matters; publications; industrialisation and investment.
Touching on amenities and infrastructures, he said electricity supply was progressing very well with installation being carried out on the ground now.
“The second aspect is water. With water, you have to start from the inception – to supply to the reservoir and then from reservoir to the household. That is the process now and it is ongoing,” he said.
Henry said they had initially targeted to complete this by the end of last year, but the Covid-19 pandemic had resulted in delays.
As such, he hoped that this could be completed by the end of the month so that people in Bau would have consistent and reliable water supply.
“At the moment, there are issues such as low pressure and interrupted supply due to all the ongoing processes. The process to get water into the household is a long journey; it is not just like connecting electricity,” he explained.
Henry also highlighted roads and bridges which were needed to connect all areas and villages in the Bau District.
“We are talking about Greater Bau, which means we have to cover every area in Bau. All must be well-connected,” he said.
He said all the components were linked, pointing out that once roads and access were in place, then more land could be opened up for agriculture.
Alongside all these infrastructural developments, Henry said they were also focused on the other components of the blueprint at the same time.
For instance, he said land matters including surveys and land titles were important to ensure that once people started to open up land, they would not encroach on each other’s boundaries.
“Capacity building is also important so that people know to move forward and how to set up their own plans,” he said.
