KUCHING: The study on ‘Feel Safe in the KRT Areas’ by Department of National Unity and Integration shows that 90.68 per cent of 14,606 respondents in Sarawak say they ‘feel safe’ in their own residential areas.
Mawan (second right) having a light moment with Minister of Welfare, Women and Family Development Datuk Fatimah Abdullah at the lobby of the DUN complex. Also seen are Assistant Minister of Youth Development (Rural) Datuk Dr Stephen Rundi (right) and Snowdan Lawan (BN-Balai Ringin) .
Minister of Social Development Tan Sri William Mawan thus said in his winding-up speech yesterday that the Voluntary Patrolling Scheme (SRS) at the neighbourhood level under Neighbourhood Watch Area (KRT) Committee in residential areas had been instrumental in bringing people together towards common purposes.
“Presently, there are 337 SRS in the state actively patrolling their respective residential areas. SRS has been a dependable and effective partner in complementing the efforts of law enforcement agencies such as the police, military, Rela, civil defence and local councils,” he said.
Mawan further confirmed the finding of another study carried out by his ministry which reported that the majority of the respondents who had SRS in their residential areas ‘feel safe’ because of good relationships with their neighbours.
“To date, the KRT in Sarawak has organised 2,662 social unity programmes,” he added.
To ensure active participation from the community, Mawan said the department allocated an annual administration grant of RM6,000 for each active KRT.
He suggested creating ‘safe community and neighbourhood’ to be areas which could be pursued under the proposed Social Transformation Programme.
“This may need policy guidelines and putting collaborative framework to implement KRT and SRS in new housing schemes and the mechanisms to enhance its effectiveness in helping to curb social-related problems at the neighbourhood level,” he said.
Mawan commended efforts rendered by the Department of National Unity and Integration towards promoting harmony among the multi-ethnic communities in the state.
“Promoting inter-communal relations and racial harmony are of paramount importance if our state is to achieve political, economic and social stability to enable it to move forward with its development and transformation agendas to achieve a high income status.”
Meanwhile, a survey carried out in Kuching, Bintulu, Kapit and Lundu involving 1,044 respondents from all walks of life showed that the public have little choice but to adapt to the escalating cost of living.
Mawan informed the august House that the people responded by adopting measures like reducing spending by pursuing vegetable gardening, pre-packed home-cooked food to work, car pooling and so on.
There was however a significant difference in the perceptions towards factors contributing to rising cost of living by the public in the urban and rural areas.
“The respondents in Bintulu attribute factors like high transportation costs and petrol prices, high price of houses and rents, lack of price monitoring mechanism by the authorities and unethical business practices by some traders. In Kapit, the findings showed that rampant price increase by traders attributed high transportation costs as the main cause,” he said.
Mawan further assured that his ministry would continue to support and monitor the implementation of youth and social programmes in the Resident and District Offices to spread out social development activities at the divisional level.