Penguang (6th left), flanked by Mohd Aliff (on his right) and Edward, giving the thumbs-up to the rollout of the RM3-million worth of projects under the Prime Minister’s Department for Marudi.

BELURU: All projects under the RM3-million fund allocated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak for Marudi constituency must be completed within three months.

Assistant Minister of Local Government Datu Dr Penguang Manggil gave this reminder in his speech at the project briefing and meeting of the special project implementation monitoring committee at Beluru Community Hall, saying the projects would be done under the ‘Gotong Royong’ concept.

“As a departure from past practices, I have formed this monitoring committee to ensure that funds allocated to the various JKKKs or longhouses under the Gotong Royong concept are implemented properly with minimum leakages,” he said.

Previously, contractors were appointed through the district office or local council to do the projects.

With the projects carried out on Gotong Royong concept, longhouse folks through their village committees have more say in the implementation of the projects, he pointed out.

He further said under the new concept, half of the allocated funds would be paid upfront to the respective village committees and the balance would be given after completion of the projects.

Under the new concept, village committees have to identify the projects they want and provide estimates of the cost, while a 20 per cent of the cost would be allocated for manpower, he added.

Rumah (Rh) Berauh Baru in Entulang was allocated RM150,000 for construction of a car parking area while RM100,000 each were allocated to Rh Henry Gomes (reconstruction of burnt longhouse), Rh Niga Nyagong (longhouse repairs), Rh Kompeni Agon (longhouse upgrading) and Rh Francis Ub(longhouse upgrading).

Other projects approved were the construction of a new longhouse for RH Chabu at Lepong Ajai in Bakong (RM200,000) and repairs to the hostel and classrooms of SJK(C) Sg Jaong in Marudi (RM 150,000 through tender process).

At the BR1M presentation in Beluru last month, Penguang, who is also Marudi assemblyman, announced that a special committee would be set up to oversee the smooth implementation of RM3-million worth of development projects for Marudi state constituency which was approved by Najib to prevent leakages and to ensure that the projects benefit the target groups.

Members of the committee, chaired by Marudi District Council chairman Edward Mendai, are drawn from the Implementation Coordination Unit (ICU), District Office and Public Works Department. The committee also comprises councillors, community leaders and village chiefs.

Deputy Director of ICU, Mohd Aliff Faizal Hamid, was at the meeting to brief the recipients on the implementation and monitoring of projects.