By Jasmine Badun
KENNEDY Chukpai Ugon (GPS-Murum) wants his constituency and Belaga to be recognised and elevated into divisional status.
“I suggest in this august House for Belaga to be elevated as the 13th division, while Sungai Asap sub-district is elevated as a full district, on top of having Pekan Tubau as a sub-district,” he said in his maiden debate on the motion of thanks to the Head of State’s address.
He said the establishment of this new division would further strengthen the administration and layout of the state where development agendas and planning in rural areas could be implemented faster, in detail and in a more sustainable manner, which is also in line with the state’s Post COVID-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030.
“Belaga is the largest district in Sarawak with an area of about 20,000 square kilometres covering Belaga and Murum areas which has only one small district, namely Sungai Asap sub-district,” he explained.
“This situation has rendered it difficult for the areas to focus on implementing effective administration and development.
“Belaga district is also the main source of energy in Sarawak with the existence of two mega hydroelectric dams, namely Murum and Bakun.
“Apart from that, Belaga is also located near the country’s border with Kalimantan, Indonesia where the new capital and administrative centre of the Republic of Indonesia will be built, and will certainly open up great socio-economic opportunities with Nusantara,” he added.
Chukpai also expressed confidence that the establishment of the new division would be able to help achieve PCDS 2030, as well as being a catalyst for development especially in Murum and Belaga areas, as well as Sarawak as a whole.
He recommended that the Sungai Asap resettlement scheme be made a digital village with high speed broadband Internet to drive modern agriculture, eco-tourism, education and banking facilities in the rural area in line with PCDS 2030.
He also requested more digital infrastructure to be built in his constituency which includes Tubau, Jelalong, and Sungai Linau so that the residents would not be left behind in the digital economic transformation agenda.
