Ministry wants more rural areas to enjoy electricity, water
Published on: Saturday, March 23, 2019
SIPITANG: The State Rural Development Ministry proposed that the rural electricity supply project (BELB) and rural water supply (BALB) alternatives in the Fourth Rolling Plan under the 11th Malaysia Plan.Its Minister Datuk Ewon Benedick said the proposal was among several inputs submitted to the State Economic Planning Unit and the Federal Ministry other than the recommendations on the implementation of the Additional Economic Activity Programme and the Poor People Housing Project (PPRT) programme.
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“The recommendation is based on our findings that there are still so many isolated villages that have no electricity supply and are away from power transmission grid sources, but these villages have a creek source that we can develop for hydro-power to generate electricity energy to houses in the villages.
“We are also aware of the problems faced by many villages that still rely heavily on untreated water gravity supply, so our recommendations are to ensure that the supply of treated gravity water can be supplied to every household,” he said.
He said this to reporters after a work visit to several Mini Estate Sejahtera (Mesej), namely Banting Mesej and Malalia Mesej, as well as a honey processing and farming centre in Kg Naluyang, Kampung Bamban and Kampung Mendulong, here, Thursday.
Earlier, District Officer Matlin Dullah briefed Benedick on the district’s development.
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The Kadamaian Assemblyman said a special meeting will be held by the State Ministry to detail the list of villages to be proposed for the first phase of implementation, namely 10 villages for the alternative BELB and 10 villages for the alternative BALB as required by the Federal Ministry.
“I have been informed in the State Ministry’s post cabinet meeting that our submitted recommendations have been certified by the State Economic Planning Unit and the Federal Ministry.
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“Prior to this, I was informed that the State Ministry is not involved in the recommendation of the Rolling Plan inputs, but after we were given the mandate to lead the Ministry at State level, we want to submit a list of recommendations according to the priorities and views we feel should be included in the implementation of the Government Development Plan.
“I am grateful that the recommendations that we have submitted last month have been certified,” he said.
He said the recommendations were among the findings from the State Ministry’s Retreat which was held in early February.
“These recommendations are also closely related to the Sabah Key Performance Areas and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to the State Ministry.
“I am very confident that with the harmony and unit of various agencies/departments between the State and Federal government, we can achieve the KPIs given to the State Ministry,” he said.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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