KUCHING – Villagers of Kampung Sorot Benuk in Padawan want their village to be gazetted so that they can have an officially appointed headman and be eligible for government allocations under minor rural projects to build infrastructure and facilities in the village.
Sanjan Daik, who is political secretary to Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Chong Chieng Jen, said Kampung Sorot was traditionally part of Kampung Segu Bunuk and shared a communal boundary with Kampung Simpok and Kampung Jambu in Padawan.
Six years ago, the state government opened up a rubber planting scheme project in Kampung Sorot and since then, many people from Kampung Segu Bunuk started to move there, he added.
According to the village’s Security and Development Committee (JKKK) chairman Julis Nebir Ponet, there are already about 60 families/houses with a rough population of about 300 people staying in Sorot Benuk today.
Julis said they had submitted their application to have their village gazetted about three years ago to Padawan sub-district office at Bayur. So far, there is no news from the government.
“We really need our village to be gazetted so that we can ask for funds to build a community hall, a church, a football field and an internet centre,” he said in a press statement.
Nevertheless, the villagers are happy as they are going to enjoy a 24-hour electricity supply as Sesco had just completed the wiring work in the village.
However, the villagers are still relying on gravity-feed water supply as they are still in the process of applying for treated water supply from the water board.
This was revealed by Julis during a simple cheque presenting ceremony where they received a grant of RM3,000 from Chong.
