Expedite repair of damaged road, says PKR branch chairman

KUCHING: Parti Keadilan Rakyat ( PKR) has called on the relevant authorities to speed up the repair of a road leading to Kampung Kiding which was damaged in a landslide a few weeks back.

Its Puncak Borneo branch chairman Willie Mongin said the authorities had promised to repair the road, but nothing has been done until now.

“We hope the relevant authorities and agencies concerned will speed up the road repair because it (the road) is very crucial for the villagers who commute on a daily basis, especially students who are commuting to and from school,” he said in a press conference here yesterday.

Willie noted that the road was built by a non- governmental organisation ( NGO) called ‘ Impian Sarawak’ a few years ago to provide basic access to the villagers, especially those staying in Kampung Kakas and Kampung Kiding.

“The road was in a bad shape for a couple of months because it was not properly maintained, and the drainage was not properly done.

“The state government then stepped in and touched up the road by laying gravel and putting some culverts.”

On another subject, Willie urged all PKR members and Dayak NGOs to give strong support to the native customary rights (NCR) rally that will be held on Nov 13 at Kuching Waterfront.

“We would also like to encourage the people to come forward to give support (to this rally) because this (rally) is very significant to us.

“To us, land is our life so we hope all like-minded people will join us.”

In noting that PKR fully supports Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (Sadia), which is the organiser of the rally, Willie said: “This rally is apolitical so I hope all our members will come as individuals or NGOs to support this because we would like to see a change and reform in our state Land Code.”

He said he failed to understand why the state government did not want to amend the Land Code to recognise ‘ pemakai menoa’ and ‘pulau galau’ as NCR land.

“They know very well that they have made a lot of promises in the past, even during the last general election.

“They said they are going to protect Dayak lands especially NCR lands. Every election, we hear the same thing.

“With their majority in the august house ( State Legislative Assembly), what is stopping them from doing it?

“We have been informed early this year that they have a committee to look at the ‘pemakai menoa’ and ‘pulau galau’ issue but until today, there is no concrete solution to ensure that the rights of the Dayak community are protected.”