Govt remains focused on supplying power, water to rural folk

KUCHING: The Sarawak government is emphasising on supplying electricity and treated water to the rural areas as it aims to improve the living standard of the communities there.

Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari stresses the importance of such implementation, in that the people in rural Sarawak have been deprived of these two basic necessities for so long.

“So I have to find ways to get the revenues to implement the projects because water and power supply is very important, especially water.

“Imagine if someone dies and there is no water. For Muslims, they must bathe the body. If there’s no water, what are you going to do?” he said in his opening remarks at the ‘ Zamalah Wartawan Malaysia’ here yesterday, organised by the Malaysian Press Institute (MPI).

The chief minister pointed out that the Sarawak government had allocated RM2.8 billion to implement the rural water and power supply projects, adding that this allocation should be utilised fully within two years.

According to him, the Sarawak government is obligated to help the rural people, who voted for the present administration in the last state election.

Moreover, he stressed that water and electricity are also needed in agriculture – the common source of livelihood for the people in the rural areas.

“If their agriculture production increases, the income of the rural community also increases.

“( If) the income of the community increases, then they’d be able to feed their families and send their children to school.

“In other words, you must have the objectives. Morally, this is our objective. You have to do it,” he stressed.

So I have to find ways to get the revenues to implement the projects because water and power supply is very important, especially water. Imagine if someone dies and there is no water. For Muslims, they must bathe the body. If there’s no water, what are you going to do? Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari, Chief Minister