KUCHING: The RM5 million Rural Transformation Project (RTP) allocations for the State Assemblymen (ADUN) are not channelled directly to the ADUNs themselves. Such allocation will only be channelled through after the list of projects to be undertaken in each constituency is submitted by each ADUN in a lab a year prior to receiving the allocation, according to Chief Political Secretary to the Chief Minister, Abdullah Saidol.
“The list will then be handed out to monitoring agencies (Resident Office and District Office) and the implementers will be technical agencies consisting of the Works Department (JKR) and Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID). “Contractors of projects will then be hired by JKR through official draws and in addition to that, JKR will also address issues on site such as land issue and so on.“ Such exercise has been practised since 2014 when Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem first introduced RTP and it is from the state government itself.
“ The reason why the amount is bigger now is that Adenan stated last year during the DUN sitting that the RTP allocation had been increased to RM500 million,” said Abdullah. . He was interviewed during the MARA University of Technology (UiTM) Pre-Graduation night held at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) on Saturday.
Abdullah added that the RM5 mi l l ion RTP al locat ions had already been set aside for ADUNs to spend on their proposed projects to be implemented within this year. “If you do the maths, there are a total of 72 ADUNs in Sarawak and with RM5 million allocation for each, it will total up to RM375 million. “The balance will be then be placed under Abang Jo. He has the duty of going around the state to visit places. “During his visit, the people can request for more projects from him if the allocation under the particular ADUN is insufficient. These could be projects such as the construction of a standard R1 – R3, multipurpose halls and so on,” he said.
Abdullah added that the reason why Adenan founded RTP was due to the lengthy time for allocations from the federal government for minor projects such as maintenance and repair work, particularly in rural areas, to be channelled out.
“With RTP, several ADUNs under the same parliamentary constituency or division could work together in enhancing infrastructure in one particular area, hence resulting in an overall rural transformation,” said Abdullah who is also the Semop State Assemblyman. lso said Members of Parliament (MP) also received an average amount of RM5 million to RM7 million allocation per annum for their respective areas.
“The allocation is from the federal government and is known as the ‘Projek Mesra Rakyat’ (PMR). Even so, this amount has to be divided and used wisely as a parliamentary constituency covers a big area. “There is also the Minor Rural Programme (MRP) fund, which ADUNs can channel to Parent- Teacher Associations (PTA), churches, mosques and even sports clubs for community development. “However, all these allocations are unavailable for non Barisan Nasional (BN) candidates,” said Abdullah.
