Recently I have expressed hope for Putrajaya to reconsider its plan to enforce the Village Development and Security Committee or JPKK system in Sarawak. Being the Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) vice-president, I have mentioned Sarawak should not be included in the JPKK system without the State government’s agreement.
My comment follows the recent announcement by Rural Development Minister, YB Abdul Latiff Ahmad on July 9 which stated that the Federal Village Community Management Council (MPKKP) would be improvised and rebranded as the JPKK.
YB Abdul Latiff had also said the JPKK would be enforced in 10 states, including Sarawak. Previously, the MPKKP was established by the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government to replace the Village Security and Development Committee (JKKK) in the country and Sarawak had resisted the implementation of MPKKP because we insisted on adopting the existing JKKK system instead.
We Sarawak leaders had claimed the implementation of MPKKP was “purely political” and would disunite the people. It was the role of any government of the day to ensure unity among the nation’s subjects. If the federal government’s action and policy can lead to division and confusion then it should relook these.
Bulldozing its way into Sarawak and establishing a committee to oversee the management of villages and settlements when there is already an existing state committee doing that under the name of JKKK will confuse the people in the villages and longhouses.
Can you imagine the damage done if we have two heads managing a longhouse or village – one appointed by the state authority and another by the federal authority? That is the very reason why the state government objected to the formation of MPKKP in Sarawak.
As such, the proposed JPKK it would only lead to confusion and disunity among the people if the current federal government continued to set up the JPKK because the existing JKKK system is effective in managing the longhouses and villages.
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