RM35 million for resettlement schemes in Rascom

SIBU: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has announced a special allocation of RM35 million for three projects to improve living condition in four resettlement schemes in the Rajang Security Command (Rascom) area.

The Prime Minister said the allocation included a subsidy of RM18 million to repair 1,420 units of longhouses in the Nanga Janggau, Nanga Ngungun, Nanga Skuau and Nanga Tada resettlement schemes.

"A sum of RM8 million will be allocated for the building of a road between Nanga Janggau and Nanga Ngungun," he said at a Gathering of the People With the

Leader at the Ugap Seribu Longhouse in Nanga Tada, Kanowit, about 80km from here.

The projects also included the construction of a clinic costing RM9 million at Nanga Tada which would be implemented next year.

Besides these projects, Najib, who is also the Chairman of the Advisory Board of Yayasan 1Malaysia, announced financial aid for 477 students in the resettlement schemes concerned in the form of a savings account with the Bank Simpanan Nasional.

Under the financial aid scheme, a primary school pupil would receive RM450 annually while a secondary school student would receive RM600 annually.

The Prime Minister also asked the Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (Risda) to identify areas in the resettlement schemes concerned which had potentials for the planting of rubber on a permanent basis.

He said this was to assist the people in the areas concerned to enjoy fixed income through the planting of rubber.

The Rascom resettlement scheme was created in 1972 by Malaysia's second prime minister, the late Tun Abdul Razak who was Najib's father, with the purpose of protecting the people from the threat of communist terrorists then.

Najib said he hopes that his efforts in helping the people in the resettlement schemes there will open a new chapter for them to enjoy a more prosperous era after his father had succeeded in protecting them through the formation of the schemes.

Meanwhile, he said the federal government was prepared to assist in bringing back the remains of 22 Sarawak soldiers who were now buried in peninsular Malaysia for burial in their home state. -- Bernama