KUALA LUMPUR: It was a frustration that Bintulu MP Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing took up in the current parliamentary sitting when the house of common were discussing on water and power supplies for rural folks in Sarawak.  Tiong, who is also the chairman of BN Backbenchers’ Club, raised the issue when Deputy Minister of Rural and Regional Development Datuk Joseph Entulu Balaun was replying Tanjong Manis MP Datuk Hajjah Norah Abdul Rahman.

Tiong stood up to question Joseph Entulu on the situation in Bintulu Constituency, as the people there had been left in total frustration when they saw the supplies never came although water pipes and power cables had been laid.

In one situation, he said the longhouse folks had waited for than a year, but, they just watched the pipes and cables lying there.

Tiong said he had just returned from his visit to Tatau area and the Rural and Regional Development Ministry and their contractor had been criticised by angry folks.

“The rural development projects charted out by the government shows the caring attitude of the Barisan Nasional, but, when these projects are being implemented, they are not being properly supervised.

“Worst, the projects are being handed down to sub-contractors and the sub-contractors further sub them to other contractors, ending these projects which are supposed to be the lifeline of the people being poorly implemented.”

Even when these projects were completed, the Bintulu MP said the folks had been complaining about the works having had to go through the various stages of tests, and this led the people to total frustration.

Elaborating on the tests, Tiong said they included the testing of water pressure, the pipe quality test and a lot of others.

“If these tests do not pass, the people will have to further wait for the power and water supplies, and for these people who rely on such basic necessities, it is just wait, wait and wait.”

Replying, the deputy minister said he would himself go to the rural area to check on the alleged project delay.

Tiong brought the matter up to the parliament after his return on Oct 30 from Tatau, where the residents of 49-door Rumah Henry Ijang told him about the power cable that had been laid for a year.

“But, their joy in seeing the development at their doorstep was short-lived when the contractor suddenly stopped works this year.”

Affected by the project delay were the folks of 13-door Rumah Buli Anak Jamit and others.

“When I visited them, the people were sarcastic, saying the government had the pipes without water and cables without power.”

Tiong said he had apologised to the people on such an unjustified project delay.

In the parliament, the Bintulu MP asked for the explanation of such irresponsible attitude of the contractor.

He said the folks said the contractor involved was someone influential, and therefore, the government had turned a blind eye to the problem.

Tiong wanted this problem to be looked into for the sake of the longhouse folks.