KUCHING: Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Jemust Masing questions the mechanism used by the federal Rural and Regional Ministry in listing the 28 poorest districts in Malaysia.
Unless the methodology is explained, it is hard to accept the findings of the research that puts 13 districts in Sarawak as among the 28 poorest in the country, he said.
Among the 13 districts listed are Lubok Antu, Song, Kanowit, Selangau, Simunjan, Daro and Pakan.
“In order to find the accuracy of the findings, I need to know who were the respondents, how many were involved and what were the questions asked.
“Until I have this information (research), I can’t make any comment whether the findings are the true reflections of the situation on the ground (in the said districts),” he said when contacted yesterday.
Masing said in any research there is a danger of ‘rubbish in, rubbish out’. Therefore, the quality of the research is important.
Daro assemblyman Shafiee Ahmad also questioned the methodology used by the ministry in their research which based their findings on household per capita.
Shafiee noted that the research was “quite subjective, general, bias and unfair, as we do not know what method was used and when the research was actually conducted”.
Daro is a huge constituency with 35 thousand constituents.
“We do not know how many respondents were involved, whether they were from the Ulu, coastal area or the mainland.
He noted such random findings (as there weren’t any indications where the respondents were from) should not represent Daro as a whole.
Shafiee pointed out that there is a possibility that those respondents were those with no fixed income.
He said from a political point of view, the research seems to have the attention to belittle the government of the day.
In terms of development, various schemes and projects have been implemented for the benefit of the people.
“And with more projects in the pipeline, there will be greater opportunities available to the people, opportunities that can actually boost the local socio-economy,” he said.
