Baru Bian - Speeches by BN Ministers good and desires that development can be balanced with good environment

Benefits from SCORE must be equitably shared — Baru

Borneo Post on May 25, 2012, Friday

“Definitely we are not people who go against development. But we want to see that it is done properly. At the end of the day, the benefit from the whole thing must be equitably shared between the rakyat of Sarawak,” he said when commenting on Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud’s winding-up speech on Wednesday which was the last day of the 17th State Legislative Assembly session.KUCHING: The benefits from the mammoth Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) must be equitably shared among all the people of Sarawak, said Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) state liaison chief Baru Bian.

He stressed that the government must walk the talk and ensure that what was implemented and happening on the ground was according to what they had said and promised.

Amongst other things, the Chief Minister spoke at length about the rationale for SCORE as well as the direct and indirect benefits it could bring to the state’s economy and local communities if the people were willing to grab hold and make the most of the opportunities it would yield.

“The speeches are really good, it is their vision. I, too, desire that the state should be propelled to greater heights but not at the expense of people‘s livelihoods, the environment, our health and our children’s future. Those are the things we need to consider as well,” said Baru, who is the state assemblyman for Ba Kelalan.

He implied the need to ascertain the truth of certain situations, especially when there appeared to be a gap between rhetoric and reality.

Baru highlighted three ongoing issues which reflected this need; namely ensuring adequate numbers of trained and educated workforce for SCORE, the acquisition and compensation for native customary rights (NCR) land and conflicting reports concerning the opinions of the communities which would be affected by the construction of the Baram Dam.

When asked whether he thought that every Sarawakian had an equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from SCORE as asserted by the government, Baru cited the Dayak Chamber of Commerce and Industry which recently voiced their concerns over opportunities for local businesses to participate in SCORE and partake of its benefits as an example.

“I don’t want to see and hear rhetoric. I want to see practical things being done. As of now, it appears to me that it is not. With that type of complaint, I don’t see that is the reality on the ground.”