THE government should set aside sufficient funds for the construction of roads connecting 88 settlements in Song district, Lidam Assan (GPS-Katibas) said today.
Stressing that infrastructure facilities were a prerequisite to development, he said:
“Yet, for decades now, this is what Song has been lacking, which understandably, accounts for the lack of development in the area.
“As such I propose that the government set aside sufficient funds for the construction of the 156 km-road that connects 88 settlements in Sg. Bangkit – 37 km-road (11 settlements) Katibas to Bangkit at Ng Akih, Akih Bridge, Sg. Musah; 15 km (11 settlements), Sg. Iran;16 km (14 settlements), Sg. Song; 15 km (nine settlements), Sg. Tekalit; 29 km (20 settlements), Sg. Lijau; 5 km (four settlements) Sg. Manap; 5 km (five settlements), Engkuah to Ng. Ngeranau; and 34 km (14 settlements).
“The construction and completion of the above roads will not only enable us to unlock our idle Native Customary Rights (NCR) land but also add value with better commercialisation of farming, thus eradicating poverty in the rural areas,” he said in his maiden speech today when debating the motion of appreciation to the Head of State Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud’s recent opening address.
On socioeconomic development, Lidam said the communities in Song owned vast tracts of fertile NCR land.
“Due to lack of accessibility the land had to be left idle. To add value to the land I call on the government to expedite the survey works under Section 6 and Section 18. Besides giving ownership, it also assists as collateral for farmers to obtain credit facilities as land titles are required by finance institutions.
“It is my belief that following the issuance of individual land titles and road links to their land, our youth will be most willing to return home to carry out commercial farming through the application of the latest technologies and modern farming,” he said.
He said in order to ensure sustainability and commercial viability of the farming projects, he suggested that the government set up a training centre to train farmers before they venture into agriculture projects.
“The training centre is to be fitted with high-speed internet connectivity,” said Lidam.
