BETONG: A cleaner, more progressive and developed town as well as a people-friendly grassroots leadership are what Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas wants for Betong district in the years to come.
He also wanted its tourism potentials to be tapped to the fullest, and informed that a new building had been proposed for the Betong District Council.
“The Betong District Council will have a lot to do from now.
“I want it to work out plans and strategies for a more progressive and developed and clean Betong town and district in three years from now.
“In term of cleanliness, I want it to be one of, if not, the cleanest in the state.
“Toward this end, we are exploring options like waste segregation disposal, recycling, composting, and also an incinerator.
“We cannot be depending on landfills or for people to simply treat their rivers as convenient waste disposal place.
“These will only contribute to polluting our environment and rivers. Of course the council will be focusing much on public education in this respect,” he said.
He said these after witnessing the swearing-in of the new chairman and 30 members of the Betong District Council for the 2025-2028 term here today.
Betong Member of Parliament, Datuk Dr Richard Rapu, now helms the council.
On tourism, Uggah stated that Betong have much to offer like its pristine nature, flora and fauna, culture, its traditional longhouses and others.
“We are also getting better connected through roads, and more so when the Bebuling Airport project is targeted to be ready toward the end of the year,” he added.
Uggah added that the development of the RM16-million replica fortress plus facilities of legendary hero, Rentap, at its original Bukit Sadok Betong site was expected to begin this year.
On the proposal for the council new building, he said this had been presented to Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.
“It will be an iconic structure, a new landmark here,” he said, further reminding the councillors that they were leaders at grassroots level, and the bridge between the government and the people.
“We need your help in informing the people of the many policies and programmes for the people’s wellbeing and betterment, and in generating better income.
“We also need your feedbacks if they had indeed benefitted them, and how well they had been implemented.
“So it is absolutely vital for all to continue to work as a cohesive team,” he said.
On another matter, Uggah said all chairmen of district councils in the state would now be referred to as Chairman and not ‘Walikota’ as had been the case before.
He said the state cabinet had agreed on this as it was felt that the term did not belong to the state.
Meanwhile, as the new chairman, Richard advised his councillors to serve with full dedication, transparency and integrity.
He said whatever decisions they make should benefit the people, not themselves or any particular individual.
