Baru says state govt should expand on mobile banking services in rural areas

KUCHING: The state government’s initiative in implementing mobile banking services in rural areas should be expanded upon to increase access to banking services for the rural population, opines Baru Bian.

The Selangau MP in a statement yesterday voiced his support with Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) commissioner Madeline Berma’s call for the state government to further increase access to financial services to those who had been excluded from traditional banking.

“I foresee that mobile banking will become very necessary in the near future. ‘ Banks on Wheels’ have been in use in many other countries to service the rural folk.

“However, we also need to look at other ways to improve access to banking services, such as providing internet services to all rural areas and encouraging the people there to learn and utilise internet banking.

“This normal thing called ‘banking’, which we take for granted, is something that is so out of reach for a huge majority of the people in rural areas,” Baru Bian said in a statement today, recalling how people paid high boat and vehicle fares to get to the nearest towns to collect their BR1M (1Malaysia People’s Aid) when the aid was first distributed.

He added that in order for rural communities to modernise and prosper, two forms of connectivity, namely physical infrastructure and internet access, were “equally essential”.

“This (implementation of mobile bank services) ties in with my vision on modernising our agricultural sector and promoting organic farming, as online transactions will provide a convenient way for farmers to conduct their businesses.

“Farmers will be able to sell their produce online and good roads will enable delivery to be carried out smoothly and speedily,” he said.

Baru also pointed out that the past two months of the Movement Control Order (MCO) had shown that people could work and conduct their businesses from home.

“For many business owners and employees, this has come as a pleasant revelation as business owners can save on office building rental and employees can save on rentals in the towns or cities.

“If this trend (working-from-home) extends to Sarawak, it would mean that with good internet access, the tech-savvy younger generation would not need to leave their villages.

“Younger families would be able to work remotely, thus saving on expenses, and at the same time, preserve intergenerational living as well as their cultures and traditions. It is a way of reversing the current practice of youths leaving their parents and grandparents to seek employment in towns and cities,” Baru said, adding that all this was possible with the right facilities in place.