BETONG: Sarawakians are more united now than ever before. Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah said the bond among the people grew stronger when they realised Sarawak was on its own after the state government ceased to be part of the central government that was formed after the 14th general election (GE14).
“The feeling of mutual respect and togetherness among Sarawakians is not found anywhere else but here in the Land of the Hornbill.
“Despite being a multi-racial and multi-religious state, we have no cause to distrust each other, to hate each other or to be jealous of each other.
“On the contrary, Sarawakians know we are now on our own in governing our state, and realising the challenges ahead, the people have come together to form a pillar of progress and prosperity,” he said.
Uggah, who is Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu deputy president, said this when officiating at the 11th anniversary celebration of the Sarawak Federation of Chung Hua Associations here on Saturday night.
Uggah further said the mutual respect and togetherness among Sarawakians had given the state government the courage to chart out a socio-economic future aimed at creating a progressive and rich state by 2030.
“To start the ball rolling, our Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg had allocated an unprecedented state development budget of RM11 billion this year.
“The priority is to bring in more infrastructural facilities and amenities and upgrade existing ones,” he said.
Uggah, who is also Modernisation of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development Minister, said the agriculture sector received RM315million allocation this year with which to initiate changes to enable the state to become a net exporter of food by 2030.
He said the challenges of coming up with a huge provision for development purposes and implementing people-centric development policies called for total unity and cooperation among Sarawakians.
On this basis, he urged the Chinese community in the state, along with the other communities, to remain loyal and supportive of the GPS government.
He said their support was crucial in enabling the state government to pursue its “Sarawak First” policy successfully.
“Abang Jo believes that Sarawak must be governed by local political parties and local leaders who best understand the state.
“We also want to protect the state’s rights as enshrined in the MA63 with regards to its oil and gas and territorial waters, immigration power and so forth. We want to take back those rights that have been taken away from us.
“This is a very important struggle because whatever we have in Sarawak must remain in Sarawak to benefit all Sarawakians, in particular our future generation,” Uggah stressed.
Uggah went on to praise the local Chinese community for their contributions to society.
“You have been doing many community projects and one of the most praiseworthy is the formation of the voluntary fire fighting squad, which has helped to put out a number of fires here,” he said.
At the function Uggah who oversees the state’s Unit For Other Religion (Unifor) announced a government grant of RM500,000 to the Betong’s new Chinese Temple Fund.
He also allocated a grant of RM30,000 to the Betong Chung Hua Association.
He later witnessed the installation ceremony of the new office-bearers of the federation.
The new president is Lim Ah Teck of the Batu Kawah chapter. He takes over from Charlie Wong of Betong.
Layar assemblyman Gerald Rentap, who also spoke at the function, announced a grant totalling RM60,000 to various Chinese organisations here.
