Balanced development becomes the focus of DUN Tellian

MUKAH, 1 Oct: The expansion of Tellian State Legislative Assembly (DUN) area covering urban and rural areas is among the major challenges in ensuring development and service delivery can be carried out in a balanced manner.

ADUN Tellian, Royston Valentine said that an area of about 1,227 square kilometers requires more structured development planning to ensure the needs of people in each area are taken into account.

According to him, DUN Tellian not only covers the administrative centre of Bukah Division but also includes rural areas including Ulu Batang Oya and Ulu Batang Mukah.

"From the perspective of the area's breadth, this is a major challenge for me. But I took this challenge as a motivation to serve in this area so that I could meet the needs of people throughout the region.

"From the point of view of basic infrastructure, we still need attention from the government: road networks, electricity and water supply. In my first five years as a public representative, several projects have been approved, some are in the works and there is no denying that some have also had problems", he said when met at Studio Mini TVS, today.

Commenting on the development priorities for the next three to five years, Royston said that a balance of development between urban and rural areas should continue to be taken into account.

He said that urban areas are still facing the challenges of reaching telecommunications, especially as the digital agenda becomes increasingly important in everyday life.

"Telecommunication is having a huge impact on people when we are really prioritizing digitisation, when many things require good telecommunications networks", he said.

Meanwhile, he said the development of basic infrastructure such as roads, electricity and water supplies continues to be a priority for people in rural and rural areas.

In the meantime, Royston explained, the voice of the people including young people should be part of the development plan at DUN Tellian.

According to him, public views and complaints were received through various channels including face-to-face meetings, letters, social media and field trips.

He said a down-to-earth approach is important to allow an issue to be identified based on actual circumstances before further action is taken.

"From the point of view of this sophistication of technology, we need to make good use of it so that complaints and information provided by a party can be properly addressed.

"I myself created a WhatsApp group that brings together department heads and local residents represented by community leaders and tribal leaders (KMKK) to communicate information more easily and quickly.

"If there is an issue that can be resolved quickly through cooperation within the group, we will try to solve it at a swift pace", he explained.

He also encouraged the community to use proper complaint channels to ensure that any issues can be communicated to stakeholders more orderly and quickly.

He said the approach allows immediate-resolvable issues to be addressed through cooperation between relevant departments and agencies without waiting for problems to become bigger.

Thus, the challenges of DUN Tellian's expansion not only relate to distance and geography but also demand structured development planning, effective communication as well as continuous cooperation between representatives of people, government, department and society to ensure that the needs of residents in urban and rural areas continue to be taken into account.