NTP a success including for Sabah and S'wak: Salleh
Published on: Friday, April 29, 2016
Kuala Lumpur: Facilities and services for people living in rural areas under the National Transformation Programme (NTP) and the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) have been hailed as one of the Government's priorities for those living in Sabah and Sarawak. Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak cited the example of Bario in Sarawak which did not have 24-hour electricity supply until quite recently under the programme that was launched more then five years ago, in October 2010. "Due to the Rural Development National Key Results Areas (NKRA) under the Government Transformation Programme (GTP), Bario now has proper electricity supply. "So, while this is of not much concern to those living in the urban areas, those living in the rural areas need the basic amenities such as water and electricity, which those living in the urban areas have been enjoying for decades," he said in a post on his blog, sskeruak,blogspot.com., Thursday.
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He said a further 5.5 million Malaysians living on the outskirts have also benefited through the transformation programme via provision of clean water and reliable electricity. Salleh said that through the NTP, the Government had funded the rebuilding and restoration of 80,000 homes for 412,000 rural Malaysians. "Over the last decade, Malaysia's growth rate was about 4.7 per cent. Sabah and Sarawak saw a growth rate of 3.0 per cent and 4.2 per cent, respectively. According to the 2014 report, Sabah and Sarawak also led in terms of agricultural output at 16.8 per cent and 15.2 per cent, respectively.
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What may be surprising to many is that Sarawak's GDP per capita (RM41,000) is higher than Penang's (RM38,000) and Selangor's (RM37,000). So, these figures speak for themselves," he said. He said the normal complaint is that while the majority of Malaysians live in the rural areas, the majority of the development is concentrated in the urban areas.
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"Hence, the people in the towns and cities receive all the money while the people in the villages receive very little. "This is not entirely true. The problem is one can see the development in the urban areas while development in the rural areas is not so visible. This is because of the nature of development in the rural areas compared to that in the urban areas. "Furthermore, the needs of those living in the rural areas differ from those living in the urban areas," Salleh said. For example, in the urban areas, he said, the problem is with traffic congestion and the need to improve public transport. "So, this is the focus of the Government, on how to ease the living in the big and busy towns and cities. And this is being done in the heart of Kuala Lumpur with train services extended to the fringes of Kuala Lumpur in the areas surrounding the Klang Valley plus with the building of more highways," he said. In terms of communications, Salleh said, over the last five years the Government has managed to link three million rural citizens via 5,300 kilometres of roads. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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