MELALAP, A GHOST TOWN IN CYBER ERA?

INTERVIEW…..Dr Benjamin Yapp interviewed with local residents of Melalap, Tenom on various community services related to assistances provided for the hardcore poor and poor village folks.

By : DAP INTERIOR MEDIA

DR BENJAMIN YAPP endeavored to encourage the hardcore poor families to apply for the existing ‘AZAM Tani and Niaga’ programs offered by the Government towards uplifting the standard of living of the hardcore poor and poor rural people as there were numerous complaints made to DAP Sabah that the e-Kasih programs had failed to reach the target group of deserving hardcore poor and poor households in the rural areas.

Benjamin volunteered to provide on the field services by going down to the grass-root rural people to offer free advisory services and assistance in order to help the less fortunate kampung folks to apply for e-Kasih, PPRT and welfare assistance towards improving their standard of living in the interior. The local residents had been denied of basic rural infrastructure development and amenities at Melalap constituency for decades.

They had to depend on gravity water supply that often was unhygienic and untreated water from the gravity water sources that often were contaminated with water-borne diseases, and dirty.

The sanitary conditions at the old Melalap shop deteriorating old building, built during the Colonial era were unhygienic and very dirty. The local residents complained that the Government had failed to build a better commercial building infrastructure for Melalap township since Merdeka. The surrounding areas there were an eye-sore as the old wooden structures were rotting and beyond repairs.

How could anyone believe that the Government had ever done anything to improve the bad conditions of the Melalap township that was worse than ever before. Visitors to Melalap township would be shocked to see such unpleasant sight that was not fit to be called a ‘Pekan’ (township).

DAP Sabah urged the present Melalap assemblyman to improve the basic rural infrastructure and public amenities for the rural people who had been long neglected. There were many cases of villagers in Mukim Melalap who had not applied for Mykad. The Melalap township was very backward and it appeared like a deserted ‘Ghost Town’ unless there was new basic rural infrastructure development to be implemented soon.

- Sabahkini