Hulu Rajang MP calls for immigration checkpoint at Tapah Megah after Kalimantan visit

KAPIT (March 29): A local delegation, led by Deputy Digital Minister and Hulu Rajang MP Datuk Wilson Ugak Kumbong, recently visited Long Nawang in Kalimatan to hold dialogues with the officers and headmen of that Indonesian Province.

The 300-member group also included his wife Datin Leyta Kupa, Miri Resident Galong Luang, Kapit Resident Elvis Didit and deputy Robert Liman, Bukit Mabong District officer Jabang Juntan, and Kanowit District officer Cerisologo Sabut.

Travelling in a convoy of 100 four-wheel drive vehicles (4WDs), the delegation undertook a journey covering a distance of more than 316km.

Ugak said in 2018, he had led a delegation to Long Nawang.

“We (Kapit and Long Nawang) share the common international border.

“As the member of Parliament for Hulu Rejang, which covers Baleh, Bukit Mambong and Belaga districts, I am responsible for the border security of this area.

“The Indonesian government has constructed the immigration check point at their border, Tapah Megah, but we don’t have the facilities to regulate the cross-border travels.

“We have carried out discussions with the Indonesian side regarding issues of common interests between Malaysia and Indonesia,” he told thesundaypost here yesterday.

Ugak said following the Kalimantan visit, he had instructed Kapit Resident to call the meeting to discuss in detail the need to build the Malaysian immigration check-post at Tapah Megah, located 265km from Putai near here.

“On the proposal, we will meet the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim; Home Affairs Minister (Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail) and the people from the Finance Ministry to discuss, in view of border security being under the purview of the federal government.

“I am also proposing to the government upgrading works on the gravel road linking Putai and Tapah Megah.

“I believe with such infrastructures, Kapit would prosper, with huge business opportunities available.”

According to Ugak, in Long Nawang there is a Kenyah settlement housing some 3,000 people in five longhouses.

“There is an airport, and also an army camp.

“They obtain many essential items from Kapit.

“That is why we must have a proper border check-point to prevent smuggling of goods from Kapit to Long Nawang,” he said.

The Sarawak delegation met up with officials and community leaders from Kalimantan, led by the Deputy Governor Ingkong Ala.