Rural folk feeling the pinch

BELAGA: The Sarawak election may be a test for Barisan Nasional with residents in rural areas beginning to feel a harder pinch from the rising cost of living.

A homestay operator at one of the famous Uma Belor longhouses in Sungai Asap here said the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) has been a burden on daily expenses.

“Although we don’t live in the city, we can feel the pinch. The prices of goods over here have also increased.

“But where else can we go to buy our daily necessities? There’s nothing else we can do but accept it,” said Daisy Igang in an interview with The Star.

Uma Belor is a resettlement site created in the 1990s when the Bakun Dam was being built.

Located deep in Sarawak’s hinterland, it is closer to the dam than to the nearest town, Bintulu, about 180km away.

The villagers are farming folk who cultivate pepper, cocoa, rice and more in the lush green surroundings of the longhouse.

However, working the land by hand provides insufficient returns.

“We don’t have a monthly income. We sell vegetables and we don’t make much from what we do. We still have bills to pay,” Daisy said.

The 45-year-old said the Government could have offered financial assistance to cushion the impact.

“We never agreed with GST because we are just village people. We should be given exemptions, or maybe some form of subsidy,” she said.

However, she said Tan Sri Adenan Satem’s performance as chief minister since he took over office has been “good”.

“From what I understand, the new chief minister seems to be firm and can be considered good,” she added.

Asked if his appointment had resulted in any change in their lifestyle, she said the villagers have not been exposed to the amount of development that urban settlers currently enjoy.

Belaga, which is populated by Orang Ulu, is Barisan Nasional’s stronghold.

It is represented by Parti Rakyat Sarawak’s (PRS) Liwan Lagang, the state’s assistant minister for culture heritage.

A new state seat called Murum was created in the recent redelineation exercise.

With 8,213 voters, Murum is one of the 11 new seats created by the Election Commission to bring the total number of state seats to 82, from 71 previously.

It is carved out from the existing Belaga seat in the Hulu Rajang parliamentary constituency.