SIBU: The Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) should tackle the issue of rural-urban migration in the town efficiently.
Katibas assemblyman Lidam Assan admitted that the issue illegal squatters in the town is not a new one, as Sibu has been seen as a transit point, especially for rural people migrating from places like Song.
“Whoever they are, they are Sarawakian who settle here and find that Sibu has a bigger future (for them). Therefore, I asked the council to look into the rural-urban migration issue,” he said at the SMC Ngiling Bidai celebration here last night (July 5).
Judging from the last survey conducted in Sibu during the Covid-19 pandemic, around 10,000 squatters were recorded here and most of them were from Song, Kapit and Tanjung Manis.
Lidam appealed to SMC to double their efforts to turn the town into a greater Sibu, in preparation of Indonesia moving its administrative capital from Jakarta to East Kalimantan which will make Kapit as the closest urban centre in Sarawak to the new capital.
“I also urge the Iban community to work together with the councils as well as the government so that we can progress together,” he said.
Among those present were Bukit Assek assemblyman Joseph Chieng Jin Ek, SMC chairman Clarence Ting Ing Horh, SMC deputy chairman Mohammed Abdullah Izkandar Roseley, SMC secretary Yong Ing Chu, Sibu Deputy Resident Christopher Ranggau Unting and organising chairman Christopher Kelebit Ansa.
