Better days ahead for rural areas under Sares, Sawas projects – Dr Rundi
SARIKEI: About 95 per cent of rural areas in the state are expected to enjoy efficient basic utilities and telecommunication coverage in the next five years through the new initiatives adopted by the state government.
Public Utilities Minister Datuk Dr Stephen Rundi Utom stated this during a press conference after the official launching of the month- long state- level national f lag (Jalur Gemilang) flying campaign in conjunction with this year’s National Day celebration at the civic centre here yesterday
In that respect, Dr Rundi, who represented Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem to officiate at the event, said the state government had adopted the Sarawak Alternative Electrification Scheme (Sares) to complement the existing Rural Electrification Scheme ( RES) and Sarawak Alternative Water Supply Scheme (Sawas) to extend these basic utilities to the rural folks.
Similar attention would be given to ensure people in rural areas enjoy efficient telecommunication services, he added.
As huge funds are needed for the implementation of Sares, Sawas and extending efficient telecommunication coverage to rural areas, the state government hoped to be able to source the funding from the federal government apart from the state’s coffers, he said.
For implementation of Sares projects, he said his ministry had been allocated RM78 million for this year, adding though it had been agreed that the funding was to be shared equally between the state and federal governments, only the portion pledged by the former had been received.
Following the launching of Sares last June, all semi- urban areas and 95 per cent of rural areas would be connected to the main grid in five years’ time, Dr Rundi added.
He also said presently about 80 per cent of semi- urban areas and 37 per cent of rural areas had been connected to the main grid.
Similar to the strategy adopted for Sares, Sawas projects are to expedite extension of treated water supply to rural areas as the ministry does not have to wait for the construction of road to facilitate its delivery, Dr Rundi explained, adding if they had to wait for the road to be constructed it would take 50 more long years to bring treated water to rural areas.
“We will construct ‘standalone’ water treatment plants in certain areas, especially where there are schools,” he said in citing an example of a special feature under Sawas.
He also mentioned that his ministry had an allocation of RM741 million to implement water supply projects in the state, which mainly involved replacing old asbestos cement pipes.
To extend telecommunication services to rural areas, his ministry had requested for an allocation of RM550 million from Malaysian Communication Multimedia Commission, he disclosed.
And to ensure optimum result, his ministry would adopt the National Blue Ocean Strategy (NBOS) to implement all projects, he said, adding Sarawak Energy Berhad ( SEB), MCMC and relevant agencies were required to play a major role in Sares, telecommunication projects and water supply respectively.
During the function, Dr Rundi presented Jalur Gemilang to various government agencies, non-governmental organisations and local community leaders.
Among those present were Assistant Minister for Workforce Development and Training Datu Len Talif Salleh, Assistant Minister for Arts and Culture Datuk John Sikie Tayai, Assistant Minister for Rural Economy ( Interior areas) and Plantation Datuk Francis Harden Hollis, Repok assemblyman Dato Sri Huang Tiong Sii, Sarikei MP Andrew Wong Ling Biu, other assemblymen, heads of various departments and community leaders.