SIBU: The increase in councillors’ allowances as announced by the state government recently should be a boost to their enthusiasm to serve the people more diligently.
Sibu Rural District Council (SRDC) Chairman, Cr Sempurai Petrus Ngelai said the increase also aims to allow councillors to go down to the ground to mingle with the people more often so that they know what the people need at the grassroots level.
“The increase in allowances is to enable councillors to move or go out to the field more actively. When we can go out to the field, we will get more accurate feedback to enable us to discuss and resolve any arising problem in the office meeting room.
“This is one way for us to improve services,” he said at the Health Education @ Outreach Programme at Rumah Joseph Jarrau, Tanjung Bekakap here on Saturday.
Sempurai, a lawyer by profession, also called on each council member to make plans to enable the council to hold this outreach programme in areas that need it or nearby, especially those with many longhouses or residents.
“This is to enable our tour to be more comprehensive because this year is a very important year for us in Sarawak.
“As an agency that is directly in touch with the people, we need to improve our services and outreach to the people so that we can solve problems at the bottom first without having to bring them up.
“Council members now not only act as policy makers but also need to go down to find out about the people’s problems, which will then be brought to the attention of the council,” he explained.
Meanwhile, SRDC Environment and Public Health Committee Chairman, Kelvin Lau Kor Jie, who also spoke, said the programme is very important because it opens up space or provides a platform to interact and connect directly with the residents or local communities.
“Here we can discuss the various problems faced and of course we try to address those problems.
“The second reason is for us to increase public awareness about the environment and more importantly about diseases such as rabies and dengue,” he said.
At the same event, Sempurai and Lau also officiated at the commission of the newly longhouse’s parking lot which was completed at a cost of RM93,000 under the Rural Transformation Project (RTP).
Also present were SRDC secretary; Ng Siang Wei, SRDC Community Development, Sports, Culture, Youth and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Committee chairman, Cr Paul Teo Ming Pau, and the longhouse chief, Joseph Jarrau.
