VP vows to help ‘treetop girl’

KOTA KINABALU: Parti Warisan Sabah vice-president Datuk Junz Wong has promised that “treetop girl” Veveonah Mosibin’s family will receive a free bird’s nest house should the Warisan Plus government manage to return to power after the state elections.

“If Warisan wins big in the September polls, I will personally ensure Veveonah and her family receive a free bird’s nest house,” he said in a statement.

Wong made the announcement following Communications and Multimedia Deputy Minister Datuk Zahidi Zainul Abidin’s statement in the Dewan Negara when he falsely accused Veveonah, from rural Pitas, of lying about taking examinations in a tree on YouTube just to gain fame.

He later retracted his remarks and apologised but Malaysians were outraged, especially those from Sabah.

Wong said the free bird’s nest house programme, called “Program Sentuhan Rakyat”, was implemented by Warisan during its tenure in the state.

“In 2019 alone, a total of 150 bird’s nest houses were built for Sabahans state-wide,” Wong said.

He said out of that total last year, 55 units were built in Kudat and Pitas.

Wong said the rationale of focusing on Pitas was that it was one of the poorest districts in Malaysia.

“That is why after taking over the Sabah government (in 2018), we immediately worked to turn Pitas into a bird’s nest hub,” he said, adding that Pitas was highly suitable for swiftlet nest farming.

“Apart from its suitability, this is a high-income economic activity that can help improve the livelihood of the very poor in Pitas.”

In the programme, the Veterinary Services Department will help build each participant a free swiftlet house and teach them how to maintain the unit.

Wong said the participants would be taught how to collect the nests and the state would connect them to purchasing markets.

“One of the programme participants from Kampung Bongkol in Pitas managed to earn more than RM10,000 so far after being given a free bird’s nest house,” he added.

Wong said the people-centric programmes had been designed to help Sabahans like Veveonah and her family.