Three Papar villages to have better connectivity under Jendela

PAPAR: Villagers of Kampungg Gana, Kg Tanaki and Kg Mandalipau in Limbahau here would soon able to enjoy better connectivity of public cellular services and Internet as the three villages have been included in a list for National Digital Network (Jendela) implementation nationwide starting this year until 2022.

Limbahau Community Development Leader Datuk Johnny Mositun said he is pleased to acknowledge such good news when the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) replied his letter on Dec 9, 2020.

As the Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) Limbahau chief, he said he wrote and sent a letter dated Nov 17, 2020 to the manager of MCMC Sabah & Labuan to apply for telecommunications towers and transmitters to be put in interior villages in Limbahau.

“I was fully aware this problem during my last year visit in November to number of villages in Limbahau such as Kg Kaiduan, Kg Tanaki, Kg Gana, Kg Kopimpinan, Kg Bolotikon, Kg Mandalipau Ovai and Kg Kapalid Kobulu, Labak that do not have digital network coverage and support.

“I was sad to note that there were no mobile telco lines and Internet connectivity in those villages and it is a difficult life for the villagers as well as their children who could not study via online which I fear could affect their studies.

“Therefore, I have raised this problem about these villages in dire need of such digital communication services to MCMC Sabah & Labuan by sending a letter to the government agency to apply for telco towers and transmitters in those villages as well as highlighting this to local media that was published on Nov 14, 2020,” Mositun said in a statement here on Saturday.

According to him, MCMC Sabah & Labuan replied his letter on Dec 9, 2020 by stating that three locations in Limbahau namely Kg Gana, Kg Tanaki and Kg Mandalipau have been identified to be listed as among locations to be implemented under the Jendela plan, which made him pleased.

The Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) Vice President was commenting following a Saturday visit by MCMC Sabah & Labuan Assistant director Sufri Hasan Mindar and another officer accompanied by Kg Gana headman Andrew Juanis to the top hill where a primary school teacher of SK Buayan Jeffrey Joseph, 41, build a makeshift hut on top of a hill in Kg Gana which is the only spot for availability of Internet so that his three children could study via online.

Mositun said he thanked MCMC Sabah & Labuan for its swift action to visit the spot on Saturday after he (Mositun) visited the hilly place and chatted with Jeffery and his children on Friday.

He also hoped that the government would consider to provide more new towers and telecommunication transmitters to other villages in Limbahau in its next phase of the development initiative, Jendela.

Not only in Limbahau here, he said the government should seriously come up with a longterm solution to address the non-availability of Internet phone coverage situation in other areas in Sabah especially now in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic.