Pakatan Rakyat 2012 Alternative Budget-Specific Programs for the Dayak Community PR

Pakatan Rakyat 2012 Alternative Budget-Specific Programs for the Dayak Community PR

Sarawak proposes the following allocations for programs which are targeted at the Dayak community:

(i) The establishment of a Dayak Welfare Fund to the tune of RM50 million. This fund will be utilised for medical assistance to poor Dayaks, to rebuild homes destroyed by fire and other natural disasters, to care for abandoned Dayak senior citizens, for the supply of water tanks, pumps and pipes for longhouses and to repair dilapidated homes.

(ii) RM20 million will be allocated to the Ministry of Tourism and Heritage to preserve Dayak cultural heritage and traditions including the building of a Dayak Cultural Centre, collection and publication of oral traditions and histories, development grants for academic research into Dayak cultural practices and traditions and incentives for the publication of Dayak literature.

(iii) RM80 million will be allocated to the Ministry of Planning and Resource Management to carry out the perimeter survey, to issue land titles to these landowners and for legal assistance in legal disputes with plantation groups and other companies which may also want to stake claims to this land.

(iv) An additional allocation of RM250 million will be provided to the Ministry of Modernization of Agriculture to provide financial and technical support to the Dayak community for crop planting activities on NCR land.

(v) RM80 million is proposed to establish a SADA Entrepreneur Development Unit under the Chief Minister's Department with the expressed objective to develop the entrepreneur skills of the Dayaks in the marketing and sales of agriculture produce and retail goods.

(vi) To uplift the education level of Dayak students and to ensure Dayaks are competent in various professional and technical fields, a SADA Education Fund of RM100 million is proposed. This includes a special scholarship for Dayaks from poor families to enjoy tertiary education.

A total of RM580 million is therefore identified under these initiatives which will benefit the Dayak community.

Chiew Chin Sing.