KIMANIS, Jan 5 — The Sabah government will ensure villages in the areas of Membakut and Bongawan are not left neglected in terms of development, State Rural Development Minister Datuk Ewon Benedick said today.
He said during his three-day visit to these areas beginning last Thursday, he found villagers were still in need of facilities such as roads, gravity water systems, suspension bridges and Hardcore Poor Housing Programmes (PPRT).
“We visited five villages. We launched Kampung Sejahtera in Kampung Tiong Baru, we were in Lumat to survey damaged suspension bridges and had a look at the damaged roads in Labak. In Tomui, we surveyed riverbank erosion and in Kinanap, we found there are areas in need of housing projects.
“Based on these visits, I found that there is an urgent need for basic infrastructure projects, especially suspension bridges, gravity water systems and village roads,” Ewon said in a statement here today.
In view of this, Ewon, who is United Pasok Momogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (UPKO) vice-president, said his ministry will pump in allocations to help resolve the problems faced in these villages.
“I have agreed for allocations under the State Rural Development Ministry to be disbursed to the villages that we visited to resolve the problems there.
“As for the PPRT housing, I will forward our recommendations to the Membakut sub-district office so that the selection process will take into account some of the village homes we visited, as the (selection) process is decided at the sub-district office focus group committee level,” Ewon said. — Bernama
