OUCCI: Act on Agong’s remarks to address East Malaysia’s needs
The Kembara Kenali Borneo tour was a masterstroke by the King and Queen of Malaysia that highlighted the needs and aspirations of East Malaysians, opined Orang Ulu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OUCCI).
The 11-day tour covering a distance of 2,154km from Tawau in Sabah to Telok Melano in Sarawak saw an outpouring of affections and aspirations to Yang di-Pertuan Agong AlSultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah and Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah.
The royal family left a lasting impression in the hearts of Sabahans and Sarawakians who wrote letters, put up banners and verbally told the royals personally what they wanted done.
“In one masterstroke, the King highlighted to the nation the dire needs for good tarsealed and extensive link roads network, clean water supply, 24-hour electricity, reliable broadband Internet services for the Borneo regions especially in the rural areas,” said OUCCI chairman Datuk Mutang Tagal.
The tabling of Mid-Term Review (MTR) of the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) in Parliament fittingly coincided with the ‘Kembara Kenali Borneo’ tour and coming from the King, OUCCI would look forward to the federal government allocating more development funds to complete the Pan Borneo Highway and constructing a comprehensive spur roads network that connects all longhouses and villages to the towns.
“Good network will provide cheaper, easier and faster access between the rural and urban centres, which will facilitate exchange of goods and services set to boost business, investment and tourism in the state,” stressed Mutang, a former parliamentarian.
He also said while the MTR was a signpost of the progress of the goal for developed nation status, it also served as a warning to the government to rectify weaknesses in its policies, implementation and monitoring to avoid further distortions, leakages and corruption in the entire value chain delivery of all programmes.
The OUCCI , he added, also called upon Putrajaya to help Sarawak become a food basket for the nation with modern and smart farming methods through adoption of technology and artificial intelligence (AI).
“The OUCCI also wants generous budget allocations for integrated development and marketing of agrotourism and forestry programmes, incentives, grants, soft loans, investment allowances and others to support the 70,000 micro, small and medium enterprises in Sarawak.
“With its members from the Dayak community, the OUCCI calls upon the federal government to provide funds to develop Native Customary Rights (NCR) lands sustainably in carbon credits trading as a steady source of income for landowners.”