MIRI – Every constituency controlled by Sarawak’s ruling coalition receives up to RM5 million in minor project grants every year, but it seems the funds are not benefitting many people living in the fringes, observed PKR’s Asajaya candidate Mahmud Epah.
He has found that there are many marginalised folk in the constituency despite the fact that seat has been held by the ruling government over the past two decades.
“Every Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) assemblyman, from the time they were under Barisan Nasional (BN) until now, have up to RM5 million to use every year for minor projects for the communities.
“They also have additional grants from ministries at state and federal levels. With so much money to use, I am sad to see that there are so many people living in kampungs along the fringes who are marginalised even until today.
“The roads in their areas are full of potholes. The kampung houses are rotting, with leaking roofs, broken wooden walls, damaged walkways...
The roads leading to the houses and the main road connecting to Kuching are narrow and dangerous. Not much improvement for 20 years,” he told The Vibes.
Mahmud said the GPS incumbent candidate Datuk Abdul Karim Hamzah must explain to the rakyat why so many are left out of his allocations.
To make things worse, the PKR hopeful said there are traffic accidents almost every week. He added that, only a few days ago, he saw an accident along a kampung road leading into Kuching. There were fatalities.
“The kampungs are seeing (their) population rapidly increase. The dangerous roads need to be urgently upgraded. All these community issues must be dealt with now,” he said while pointing out the fact that some of these villages are usually affected by floods.
Mahmud then urged GPS to explain to the public how their representatives’ allocations are being spent.
If elected, he promised to give to those who have not received attention due to them.
In the upcoming polls, Mahmud is facing GPS’ Karim, Parti Sarawak Bersatu’s Ishak Buji and Parti Bumi Kenyalang’s Mohamed Mahdeen. – The Vibes, December 13, 2021
