‘Give us electricity or else…’

Frustrated villagers in Kampung Opar are threatening to retaliate if Barisan Nasional does not give them electricty and clear roads.

BAU: For the past 11 years, 100 families in Kampung Opar have been living in ‘darkness’ while living next door to them are 183 other families who have been enjoying the comforts that come with having electricity connected and supplied to their houses.

It’s a strange but common feature in Sarawak.

According to Ginia Anak Ginyot of Kampung Opar, they’ve been asking their elected representatives to help them get electricity for the past 11 years.

But both of them – MP for Mas Gading Tiki Lafe and the Opar assemblyman Ranum Mina – have continuosly ignored their request.

“The last time an electricity connection exercise took place in our village was 11 years ago … the exercise ended abruptly and today there are still about 100 houses in Kampung Opar without electricity, ‘ he said adding that the 183 families neighbouring Kampung Opar were lucky.

“The 183 families are really fortunate. They not only enjoy facilities such as refrigerators in their houses, but also they enjoy broadband internet services.

“As we do not have electricity and that means no refrigerators in the house, whatever fresh food we buy from the town have to be consumed the same day.

“It means we have to go every day to Bau about eight km from the village to purchase our daily needs, and the daily trip is putting a heavy financial burden on us partly due to the high cost of petrol,” said Ginai, who has both relatives and friends living in the ‘fortunate’ village.

‘We are not fearful bunch’

According to Gina, the villagers are fed up and their patience is ‘running low’.

“Both Tiki and Ranum have ignored our request. Please make us feel that our support and our votes for BN are not only valueable but also important to both of you.

“Don’t assume we will not retaliate…

“We are not exactly the fearful bunch that you may imagine us to be,” he said pointing out that the elections was looming and that BN candidates would have to seek their support.

SPDP crisis

Another villager Jipom Ak Nyogor also shared his views. According to him the crisis within Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) had also filtered down.

“Tiki and Ranum either have no idea of the problems faced by the rakyat in Kampung Opar or they just do not care at all.

“They should stop fighting each other for their own power and position and start doing something to solve our problems,” he said refering to the crisis in SPDP, where Ranum is a senior leader and aligned to party president William Mawan.

Tiki, on the other hand, is a member of the group of five who have rebelled against Mawan’s leadership.

A third-term MP, Tiki is seeking re-election in the coming general election.

Wasted fish pond project

Meanwhile the state opposition PKR has raised another issue involving an abandoned fishpond project.

According to an official with the party’s election bureau, Boniface Willy Tumek, the villagers in Kampung Opar are angry over the issue.

The project, he said, comprised 60 ponds which were constructed 18 years ago under the agriculture department scheme. The project’s estimated cost was RM600,000.

The project involved the participation of the villagers.

The deal was that villagers helped construct the ponds with the department providing technical assistance and subsidies on necessary inputs like fish fry, drainage pipes, feeds and building and maintaining a farm road linking the project to the main road.

“The government’s initiative was meant to help the villagers improve their income and to ward off incidences of poverty among the villagers.

“Because the project was sited two km away from the village a major component of the project was a farm road.

“But after the farm road was contructed and the project took off the participants were left to their own device as far as the maintenance of the road was concerned.

“The maintenance of the farm road was obviously beyond the means of the particpants and the road has since degenerated to a mere foot path, impassable to vehicles and barely passable on foot.

“As a direct consequence of this farm road the fish ponds in the project have been abandoned and the income intended to have been derived from those ponds has disappeared.

“This project is now in serious danger of becoming a total waste of resources and efforts, for both the villagers and the government.

“The sense of betrayal among the participants is great and they are angry,” Willy said.

Broken promises

A participant in the project, Nyogien, Pa Ruby recalled that in 2003 the Chief Minister himself while opening SALCRA Bau Palm Oil Mill promised funds to repair the road, but so far nothing had happened sine the promise was made.

“We are very disappointed, particularly with our Wakil Rakyat YB Tike Lafe and YB Ranum Mina.

“When Tiki was campaigning for Ranum during the last state election, he not only promised that the road will be repaired and rendered passable but he also promised that the bridge over Sg Tubah, which is on the road leading to the ponds will also be repaired.

“We voted overwhelmingly for YB Ranum Mina in that election inspite of the fact that he did not even bother to step into our village,” Nyogien said.