Bring in SPNB to build houses at Long Lama RGC, govt asked

DENNIS Ngau (GPS-Telang Usan) has called on the Sarawak government to allow Syarikat Perumahan Negara Berhad (SPNB) or other agencies to come to Sarawak and construct houses at the allocated residential area within the Long Lama Rural Growth Centre (RGC) masterplan.

He said there is a need to develop the housing component of the area as Long Lama is regarded as one of the ‘ growth spots’ in Baram.

“I have big plans to further develop my constituency of Telang Usan along with the state and federal governments by focusing on and bringing development to Long Lama RGC and Long Lama town.

“To make this possible, we need to draw a significant population to live there and therefore there is a need to develop the housing component of it first,” he told the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) yesterday when debating the 2021 State Budget.

Dennis noted that his constituency had benefitted greatly from the state government’s generous development budget over the years.

Among them, he said, were allocations of RM750 million under the Highland Development Agency initiatives, more than RM300 million for solar hybrid and Sarawak Alternative Rural Electrification Scheme (Sares) solar projects, RM30 million for rural transformation projects since 2016, and more.

He said the 2021 development-biased State Budget, with a large portion set aside for rural development, is a well-thought and smart move by the state government.

“To me, the more allocation going to rural development, especially of late, in the State Budget is because more needs to be done in some aspects of facilities we need at the very rural areas of the state.

“There is a lot of catching up to be done in terms of development especially in the sparsely populated rural areas, including my constituency of Telang Usan, Mulu constituency and Marudi constituency,” he said.