He said he had discussed these priorities of his with BN National Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin during his trip to Long Busang on Sept 26.
“These issues are my top priorities for the people in Belaga in the next five years because these are basic necessities to have a basic life,” Liwan told The Borneo Post here yesterday.
He added that because Belaga is almost as big as Pahang, Khairy had promised to enlighten ministers whose portfolios were related to rural development to help Liwan on his rural transformation pursuit.
Khairy and other top BN Youth leaders recently visited Long Busan, a Kenyah Badeng village. That village is reachable only by boat from the Bakun HEP Boat Terminal.
Currently, only about 45 per cent of some 200 settlements in Belaga District are reachable by road.
Most of these villages are in the resettlement areas of Sg Asap, Metalun and Tegulang and along the newly completed Mejawah-Belaga Road, which was completed by the army under the ‘Jiwa Murni’ programme last year.
“Our target is for the road connectivity to reach at least between 60-70 per cent to these villages in the next five years. We hope these roads could be implemented under the ‘Jiwa Murni’ programme as the cost would be much cheaper,” said Liwan, hoping that the 100km Belaga-Ng Merit could be implemented soon as it would connect most of the riverine settlements down river of Belaga Town.
On another issue, Liwan said he had notified the state cabinet since two years ago of the people’s request to change the name of Sg Asap Resettlement Scheme to Apau Koyan Resettlement Scheme.
He said, the request was now in the final process of being implemented and gazetted by the naming committee in the Kapit Resident office.
Meanwhile, Liwan, who is also the Assistant Minister of Culture and Heritage, said the ‘Pesta Apau Koyan’ was successfully carried out in the last two weeks. Involving the whole of Belaga District, its main objective was to promote and preserve the rich cultures and traditions of the different ethnic groups in Belaga.
He said during the festivals, 25 traditional huts were erected by the locals and the plantation owners to showcase the rich cultural and traditional heritage of the various tribes in the district.
“Included in the festival were traditional games such as payu (Orang Ulu wrestling), blowpipe, top competition, tug-of-war, arm wrestling, ngajat and sape competition. Modern games such as futsal, and volleyball were also included. Besides that, we also showcased our traditional food and drinks.”
The festival was launched by Liwan on Sept 28 and Hulu Rajang MP Datuk Wilson Ugak Kumbong closed it yesterday.-Borneo Post
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