SARAWAKIANS: Give 1 reason why you should vote for BN

VOTE FOR JAWAH GERANG AT BATANG AI!
After 40 years of foming Malaysia as owners of Sarwak what did BN offer?
BATANG AI: No public bus transport, not enough telephone lines, poor electricity supply, frequent water-supply interruptions, not enough health and medical facilities, roads in bad shape, poor mail services, no banks, few job opportunities - these are just a small portion of the long list of socio-economic woes of the 18,000 folks in the Batang Ai state constituency. It has been like this for a long time, even though the Batang Ai hydro-electric dam has been running since 25 years ago.The people of Batang Ai want a solution to their woes and they want them fast.

And they don’t expect the Barisan Nasional candidate in this by-election to hear their grouses and are likely to vote for the man whom they believe will likely improve facilities and amenities - quickly. PKR’s man Jawah Gerang will be the only ideal choice to bring about these changes quickly to the people at this constituency.

The Batang Ai constituency measures 1,300 sq kms and has 156 longhouses and villages scattered far and wide apart. Road-links are few. The river is the main mode of travel and transport from the interior outposts to the towns. The existing roads are narrow and many still gravel.

However, once the by-election was declared following the death of incumbent Barisan assemblyman Dublin Unting on Feb 24, JKR had tar-sealed numerous stretches of these roads.”This is what we want. Action. Not just promises after promises by politicians,” said longhouse elder Dunstan Jelin who hails from Rumah Labi. Jelin is happy that the feeder road that leads to his longhouse from the main Batang Ai road has been tarred and that more promises of development are rained down on Batang Ai now that politicians are jostling for the hearts and minds of the people.

“Many longhouses still do not have electricity - after so many decades. Water supply is also very unpredictable. There are times when we get water from our pipes only two days in a week. “The remaining days, we have to rely on rain water and water from the Batang Ai lake. “I hope politicians are not just here for the by-election. Look into the problems we are facing. Come to our kampungs and longhouses and see for yourselves the condition we are living in,” he said.

Shopkeeper Chong Kiat Voon joked that there should be more by-elections held on a more regular basis. Having to wait five years for an election just to get windfalls in the form of financial and project allocations is too long a period, he said.
01/04/09

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