KUCHING, Dec 31 — In his New Year’s message, Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri James Masing today urged Sarawakians to work together and achieve a shared dream where no single ethnic group is left behind in terms of progress and development.
He said the Sarawakian dream does not belong to anyone in particular, but to all who wish to see growth and prosperity transcend over the whole of Sarawak.
“But generally, our struggles are the same, which is for the greater good of Sarawak and to turn our Sarawakian dream into a reality,” Masing, who is also Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president, said.
He said Sarawakians may have different religious beliefs, cultural backgrounds and political affiliations but their fates are intertwined.
He said they are like trees that grow on Sarawak’s soil and for them to flourish, the land needs to be continuously nourished.
“At times, some of us might have disagreements when we have conflicting ideas and views on how things should be carried out,” he said, adding that the Sarawak dream is where all Sarawakians will be nurtured not based on colour or creed but merits.
Another Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, in his New Year’s message, said his focus from next year will be to double the efforts in transforming the agriculture sector which is now popularly regarded as the new source of wealth for the state.
“For 2019, we have been allocated a budget of RM355 million. We have identified modern programmes and projects to boost production or raise our self-sufficiency level,” Uggah, who is also minister of modernisation of agriculture, native land and regional development, said.
“In a nutshell, my ministry is out to promote precision farming which is technology driven,” he said, adding that the ministry needs to be more efficient and productive as by 2030, the state wants to be a net exporter of food.
