Najib Razak continued his walkabout to the interior areas of Sarawak by going to Pekan Song and Kapit in Ulu Rajang, the longest river in Malaysia.
Upon arriving by helicopter at the Song district field, the prime minister proceeded to the town centre with 5,000 people, mostly comprising the Iban community.
Najib, who is the first prime minister to come to the small town, was
greeted with a traditional cultural performance by students of a secondary
school here.
In his speech, Najib announced an allocation of RM90 million for the
construction of a road stretching about 40km from Song to Kapit, which is now
only accessible by river.
The announcement by Najib brightened the hopes of the people in the interior
areas of Rajang to enjoy road facility between Sibu-Kanowit-Song-Kapit which can
be reached only by express boats through Sungai Rajang.
The journey by express boat from Sibu to Song takes more than an hour
through Kanowit town while the journey from Song to Kapit takes three hours.
Najib also criticised opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim who he claims made
promises to the people in the interior areas now but failed to help them when he
(Anwar) was the Finance Minister (he was also Deputy President of UMNO) previously.
He said the opposition only came during the election whereas the Barisan
Nasional would continue to bring development after the election.
The prime minister said now everyone, including the people of Sarawak, knew
Anwar’s story.
After going on a walkabout to shake hands with members of the
public, Najib boarded a helicopter to continue his journey to Kapit.
– Bernama