Getting things the people really need, not what the government wants them to get

THE state Ministry of Infrastructure and Ports Development has decided to conduct regular site visits to ongoing government-funded projects in the rural areas in Sarawak.

Good on them! This is to avoid any project remaining uncompleted on schedule.

I fully endorse the aim of Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, who is also the state minister in charge of public works.

“All longhouses and villages should be well-connected,” he said, as quoted in The Borneo Post (Aug 17, 2024).

If I may add, connected to the main road, the Borneo Trunk Road or the coastal trunk road, and not just the nearest logging track – before 2030, in six years’ time!

“Bulan berjalan, hari berlari (months walking, days running)! Time and tide wait for no man.”

The beneficiaries of any government-funded project sighted anywhere in the state can now expect regular site visits from the government servants in charge of that project.

The contractor looks forward to such visits too. If his work is up to date, he hopes that his claim for payment would be processed speedily.

At the ground level, there may be many problems, technical or otherwise, which upset the schedule of completion of a project. For instance, the main contractor may be under extreme pressure from the suppliers of materials and services for prompt payments of their part of the work.

Then the sub-contractors and the sub-sub- contractors, dependent upon ready availability of the working capital, are also putting pressure on the main contractor for payments of their outstanding claims.

Any delay in payment for works done at this level is likely to cause a chain reaction. It is this interdependence that may cause works on the project to slow down, or even to stop altogether.

Sometimes this is reported to the ‘mandor’ (supervisor); sometimes, he is unaware of the situation, especially when there is no communication between that ‘mandor’ and the workers.

Everybody is waiting for the ‘higher authority’ to help solve this problem, but the authorities do not get the message on time – or at all.

It is the combination of the above factors that may contribute to the problems of management of the project at the site level.

So the visits, as regular as possible, would solve a lot of problems. Someone in authority is required to be around almost all the time.

The situation is similar to that in a hospital. A good doctor goes on his rounds of the wards regularly, not relying entirely on the information provided for in the charts kept by the nurse on duty.

He will see and talk to each patient personally. A doctor’s smile means a lot to the patient, assured of the best treatment available.

During the site visits, the senior officials of any ministry may discover other information on other factors causing the delays in the completion of the project.

When a contractor is under pressure to complete a job, he may resort to shortcuts: persuade the ‘mandor’ or the ‘friendly’ official in authority to certify his claim of works as being satisfactorily done.

This is how corruption starts. The result – shoddy work is certified as being completed satisfactorily in compliance with the specifications, when it is not.

An official, not being corruptible himself, may discover a problem that may cause the delay in the completion of a project on the ground that requires an internal investigation in terms of verifying the claim by the contractor.

And there are so many claims coming from all directions yet to be processed!

This delay at the divisional level is an unnecessary addition to the delays at the project site. It compounds the problem.

So when the minister in charge of public works in the state openly proposes regular visits of inspection by the officials of his ministry, he wants to make sure that none of the problems are swept under the mat.

The fear is that the ‘sick’ project will morph into a ‘dead’ project!

It looks as if our minister is not going to allow something like this to happen during his stewardship.

Way to go! Yes, to another round of visits and another, and another, the more the merrier!

Make it a routine for every ministry in Sarawak in terms of the state-funded projects.

Hopefully, it would be noticed by the federal Rural and Regional Development Ministry too.

Federal government-funded projects in Sarawak need to be closely monitored. If the proposed bridge across the Batang Kayan at Kampong Selampit in Lundu had been built a few years ago, by now it would have been completed.

Then those schoolboys and girls, now boarding a boat to ferry them across the river, would have chosen to go to school at Senibong by road.

Another good idea mentioned by the minister refers to the need for the ministry to be close to the people.

He said ‘the ministry wanted to know their plans to enhance road connectivity in their areas, including where new roads and bridges would be needed’.

That is planning at the grassroots level, which should be encouraged, for the people know better than the officials what they really need, not what the government wants them to get.

And if there are disputes about land ownership, houses to be demolished and the like – as there always are – these disputes can be settled smoothly before the bulldozers move in.

Sarawak would not be considered as a fully developed state if all parts of interior Sarawak were not well connected by all-weather and ‘motorable’ roads.

* The opinions expressed in this article are the columnist’s own and do not reflect the view of the newspaper.